Black and White
by Crilian
Summary: Nick is living on his own, musician and fighter. His parents were killed by the white fang at the age of 12, and he has been living on his own ever since. When he see's the beautiful white Schnee pass the shop he is in, he had to approach her, but not just normally. What he found out after that is something much more horrifying. M for language and descriptive violence.
1. Black and White

**Hello, and welcome to Black and White! This is the first chapter, and it was done on notepad, but I did manage to make some edits now. The other chapters are coming together well, and I hope you continue to read after this chapter!**

**-Crilian**

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Black and White

I was simply browsing the shops of Vale, until I saw a girl about my age walk by the shop. I was leaving the shop anyways, and coincidences don't happen for no reason. She had beautiful white hair with an off center ponytail. She had a white dress, with white heeled boots. These boots went up to her upper thigh, and the dress just revealed skin in between the boots end and her dress. She had ice-blue eyes, with a scar down the left eye. Pretty Badass.

Oh, hi, I'm Nick. I am currently living in Vale alone at the age of 17. I am not attending school, I need to make money somehow. I currently work in a clothing store, nothing too fancy. I make enough to get by, but in my meantime I love to play any type of music and fight. That doesn't go to well together, does it? Well, for me it's perfect. Expressing myself through both of those activities is the greatest thing ever. I have been wanting to start a band for ages, but I never got around to it. I have been a part of some anti-white fang actions. I volunteer for the local police when I can, trying to do some good in this city. I have been able to stop a good amount of them before they got out of hand. Oh, I use a katana, but not just any katana. It has 2 blades, which can become two separate swords with my energy. My semblance is energy based, so far only white energy. It seems to be around when I am happy. I haven't seen anything else. It looks like lightning, really.

Oh, yeah, you can't see me, huh. Well I stand a tall and proud 6'4". I have brown hair, but with my semblance's white energy, it turns white. Cool, huh? Yeah, it is, you're all jealous. I am well built, I got abs. My last name is Scarlet. Nick Scarlet. Yeah, it's bland, but it works. I'm just muscular enough to not look ridiculous. I look skinny with just my clothes on, but my arms are a different story.

Enough of that. I need to follow this girl. She's too beautiful to pass up. Time to chase. As I get closer, I notice she isn't alone. 3 other girls are with her. Great, a group. This is going to be more difficult than I thought. Love comes through hardship, right? Eh, fuck it. Lets go. As I approach them, I notice that they are talking about something. It seems to be... A test? Really? Oh, yeah, school. Forgot that exists. Well, they don't seem too bad, I might as well introduce myself as a flattering gentleman to this girl. As I get closer I see a logo on her back. A snowflake? Where have I seen that before... Oh, damn, is that the Schnee family crest? Well, it shouldn't matter. I have my masterplan. Lets get ahead of them. Cutting through this alley should work. It's really just around the corner. I always have my Alto Sax with me when I am on the town. They turned the corner in my direction, which is perfect. By now I had my Sax set up and an audience of people gathered. I cleared my throat. "I would like to devote this song to..." I acted to look around the crowd, then spotted her. "That girl in white over there! I call it, 'Ice'." She looked over. I got her attention, now I need to begin. I started with a simple lick that would transition into a slow and beautiful song that I could morph however I want. I wrote this song for that one girl I knew would be the most beautiful. They all walked over and stood there. I had my eyes on her for a short time, then I closed it. Time to show off the beauty of this instrument. Quick runs into some nice vibrato was my standard, and I had mastered the technique. I can make the worst note seem beautiful. I looked around and noticed that one of her friends was crying, maybe I reminded her of something? Just finish the song. I never set up a tip jar, I don't need the pity money. As I hit the final note, I had to do something I never do, hold it out for an inhuman amount. I know I can do this. I begin to circular breathe and vibrato at the same time. The note was still going, people were clapping, now they were cheering. The girl in white wasn't that amused. So I finished it with a simple lick. With that, the crowd of about 20-30 people were cheering. I took a bow, and now, the trump card. "Thank you, thank you! I do not accept tips, this is all for your enjoyment. I titled this song Ice because I knew the most beautiful girl I would meet would be as cold as Ice, but moving past that wouldn't be too hard." I heard the 3 girls start to giggle, I looked over to the girl after I finished my statement. She was blushing, but her friends were laughing. I decided to say something. "It's not funny, from the hardship that is experienced living on your own since you were 12, music was my only escape." They shut up, except for the blonde girl.

"No, it's not that. You just got Weiss' personality spot on!" She continued to laugh, and the girl with black hair and red streaks took her away. "Seriously, how did he know! That's gold!" The crowd had dissipated except for the girl in white and her friend who had black hair. After looking closer, I noticed that they both had weapons. They must attend Beacon. Time to approach her, I guess.

"Hey, my name's Nick, what's yours, beautiful?" Smooth. Straight to the point, confident.

"I'm Weiss." Obviously, I knew that. The heiress to the Schnee Dust company was said to have been attending Beacon and in Vale for the time being. "And I did enjoy your performance, but it's a no to whatever else you have to say to me." Oh, I have so many things that will make that backfire.

"Oh, I was just going to ask you if you were indeed Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, and if you were attending Beacon and if these people were your friends. I guess not." She became flustered, realizing her mistake. The girl next to her began to laugh.

"Blake, stop. I have had enough of you becoming a pest like Ruby." The girl next to her is apparently named Blake, and she calmed down. "Anyways, no I don't want to go on a date with you. I don't even know you. You're probably weak." These last words turned my smile into frown. I approached her further, and allowed energy to come off my body. It attached to Weiss' weapon as if it was a lightning rod. I towered over her now.

"I have dealt with the White Fang on many occasions. They killed my family. A faunas girl and her partner killed them, right in front of me, but I was spared. I remember the boy's name, Adam. The girl's slips from my mind, but I know that I have to kill them before they do that again. I am prepared to kill anytime." Weiss scoffed. She had obviously dealt with the White Fang in her lifetime, with a target painted over their heads since before she was born most likely. I know what she must have been through, so she must be good. Brian looked to Blake, who looked at him in horror. I think she was scared, but something is familiar about her. Weiss noticed this and she took her aside. They had their backs to me, and I couldn't really hear them. Blake was just shaking her head as to say no and yes. Weiss came back to him. Nick noticed the bow on her head, and the weapon looked familiar, but he just brushed it off. "So, Weiss, you still think I'm weak?" She turned to him.

"I don't believe so. You try to intimidate someone you are attempting to compliment within about 10 minutes, so I think you should change that."

"Although, you did make the mistake of calling me weak." Blake was still hanging far back. Weiss saw this and instantly responded. "Oh, don't worry about her, she is just shocked that you are still attempting to ask me out." I wasn't convinced.

"I feel like I know her from somewhere before. That weapon is familiar, too. Although, it doesn't look like a small katana. I don't see a ribbon either, so it might just be my imagination." Weiss laughed nervously. Something was wrong, and I had to get to the bottom of it.

"Yeah, must be." She responded. Her voice wasn't as calm and collected as it was before. This isn't right. Something is off. "Well, it was nice meeting you!" She ran off. Literaly. I decided to follow them.

About 2 hours later, a fight breaks out. White fang members against Weiss and her friends. It was about 40 on 4, unfair odds, but I should really see the potential of the girls. They eventually took about 10 of them down before they were too tired to do anything. Brian noticed Blake's weapon. She had two now, one more of a cleaver, and one of a very familiar, short katana with a gun above the guard. That's it. Visions popped into my mind, as if pictures. The blood on the blade, the blade at his neck, the spike digging into my chin. That scar still remains, after 6 years. I had my weapon concealed in my sax case, so I took it out. Rage built, and for the first time, I emitted black energy. My hair gained a silver color. I hopped down, and went in between all of the girls, who were basically in a circle. Weiss was the only one who saw the rage on my face, but I had to save her first. "Brian, this energy is different, what's wrong? You need to calm down before-" I went in. I noticed the 10 they took out were only knocked out, so I let them be. I ran up to the man closes to me, and got both blades of my katana through his chest. I spun the blade and tore a hole into his chest. He fell right before me. The others began to gang up on me.

I went to the closest one and did a quick 2 slices to take his arm off. Blood went everywhere, and it splashed onto Weiss. She screamed in terror. The black energy electrocuted about 3 men, they dropped to the floor, dead. 5 down, 25 to go. 3 charged him, simply to lose. He cut a head off, sent it flying in front of the blonde girl, cut legs off the other, and electrocuted the third. The men were beginning to lose morale, and I did what is best. I sent a simple shock to keep them in place as I did what I love: Slow and painful deaths. I slit throats, I cut off fingers, and I tore into their chests. My black energy set some on fire, until everyone was eliminated. Their burned corpses were merely black mass. I turned to Weiss, who was covered in blood. I went up to her, the black energy still pulsating. I put my sword back and she winced, as if she was preparing herself for her death. I knelt down as my sword sheathed. "Are you ok? They didn't hurt you, did they?" She came out of this wince and looked at me in horror. Blood and soot covered my clothes and body. She managed to nod. I turned to Blake and pointed my weapon at her. "And you." I walked forward towards her. She was backing into a corner, with nowhere to run. The other girls were too exhausted to stand. My black energy shot into the sky like lightning, constant electricity was emitting from my body.

"You are the one who killed my parents."


	2. From Murderer to Student

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From Murderer to Student

"This scar on my chin still remains from your attempt to kill me." I heard gasps from 2 of the girls as I showed them the scar tissue. I looked behind me and Yang was passed out, one of the heads I lobbed off was right next to her. "Now, a white fang member attending Beacon. Despicable. I promised my parents at their funeral that I will kill the people that killed them. This promise still remains." I grabbed her like she had me when her blade was at my neck, with the spike in my chin. I had her by the hair as I was behind her, pulling her up. She screamed, afraid of death. "Now now, I won't kill you immediately." I turned her head so she was facing me. I pulled off the bow, revealing her ears. I got close and whispered into them, "I will start with these ears." She screamed again. I put my sword right up to her right cat ear. The metal was just scraping some hair, slowly going deeper. I drew blood, soon it would be gone. The rush was exciting, perfect. I am able to kill the one who killed my mother. Blake screamed again as the sword went deeper, blood was spilling onto my blade. By the time I was ready to slice it off, Weiss stopped me. Her had was on mine, holding me back. I looked at her, and tears were pouring out of her eyes. She pulled with everything she had, and I pulled against her

"Please, don't hurt her." She was sobbing and half screaming as she spoke. "She's my teammate, I won't let you." Her head rested against my back. She could barely keep herself up.

I looked at her dead in the eyes. Her eyes were red from the tears. She had trouble breathing at this point. I held her head up with my knee, I didn't have any free hands. "This is something that must be done. You wouldn't understand. I'm surprised you can even _live_ in the same dorm as a member of the White Fang." Blake was looking at me in horror. Her pupils that were dilated were now tiny. Weiss hit me in the back.

"Y-you _dolt!_ She isn't a member anymore!" I turned to Weiss.

"It doesn't matter at this point. What she did is unforgivable, even if she spared me. I need her to feel the pain I felt. This isn't even close to the equivalent." I laughed. I couldn't help it, this was too funny. The girl I am hitting on is holding my hand while I try to kill someone. Not what I had in mind, but I will take it.

I saw a light shine on me, with 4 silhouettes in front of them. "Let. My. Friend. Go." One said. He was tall, and rage filled his voice. I couldn't see his face, but he had a sword and shield. The light seemed to be emitting off of him.

I scoffed. "You think that you can take me?" The black energy flowed off my body. He took a step back. "You will _watch_ me kill the one who killed my mother. Your friend is a murderer. Who knows how many lives she has taken? Now, observe my handiwork." I took my sword away from her ear and licked the blood off of my weapon. The next think I knew was that my leg had been shot, as well as my hand, and Weiss was gone. He stood behind me with a sword to my throat.

"No, you lie. Look at what you have done here. Look at the people you killed, what you did to them." I looked around, and saw the display of limbs, heads, and torn apart chests. Holes, everything, was my doing. The blonde girl was still passed out, and the girl in red and black was staring at me in horror, like all of them have.

"I still don't think that you ca-"

I took in a deep breath as I woke up. Where am I? Is this a hospital? I looked around to find a small room with a bed and small TV in the left corner. I looked at myself and saw I had a robe on with wires attached to my body. I looked to my right to see that Blake was there. I sat up, only to hear Weiss' voice. "You monster." I looked past Blake to see Weiss in the corner. She looked at me with great anger, something I didn't want to see. An older man, about his mid 40's came in. He had gray hair, with a green scarf that went down into his blazer. He sported a green dress-coat, a green shirt behind the blazer, and dark green pants. He had glasses that were shaded, just resting on his nose.

"He did save your lives, though." He said as he walked in. Weiss looked at him, obviously questioning why he is so calm when it comes to me. "Nick, I have to ask you, why did you act so severely when you attacked those White Fang Members?"

I had to think about that. I then remembered that I saw Blake's weapon. I simply pointed to Blake. "She is the reason. I was never aware that she was the one that killed my mother until I saw her fight. I was overcome with anger, and took it out on them. I was able to get to her right after. She's a murderer." He was very neutral with the situation.

He took a sip of his coffee. "Well, you are the one who killed all those men." This angered me. I couldn't stand to hear that again. I killed them to protect Weiss. Only her. "Your reason is justifiable, though." This surprised me. He knows the reason?

"What was my reason, if you know it?" I had to be sure.

"Why to protect Miss Schnee." Welp. That's it. I don't think it was that obvious, was it? I just nodded, and looked over to Weiss, she was holding back a blush. It was funny to see this, she looked so flustered. I couldn't help but laugh. He took another sip out of his mug then looked at me. "What you did isn't forgivable, but I would like for you to attend my school." I burst out in laughter. Me, attend school? That's rich. "How is this funny?" He had a serious look on his face when he said this. I managed to speak.

"I-" I laughed, "I just haven't been to school since I was 12." I couldn't stop laughing.

"This isn't ordinary school. It's a combat school. We train people to become Huntsmen and Huntresses. Your skills would be very valuable here." My laughing subsided. This was an offer I couldn't resist. Go to a school made for combat? Sign me up.

I looked him dead in the eye, and said "I will attend your school."

He brightened up. "Good, you should be out today, so meet me by the cliffs at beacon academy tomorrow morning. Be there at 10." He left the room, obviously happy with his persuasion. I looked over to Weiss, who glared daggers into my skull. I just smiled at her.

"I hope I get to duel you the first day, because I will kill you." She spoke these words as if she was a sharpened knife. Each word had meaning, and the anger and hate that it should have had. And apparently she goes to my school. Great. Blake woke up, but I decided to sleep. I put my head back down the moment she started pulling hers up.

She noticed where she was and she instantly went to her ear. She sighed in relief that it was still there. "I deserve what I got. He had every right to do that." She spoke with regret. I heard her begin to cry. "It's just, I killed his parents. I only spared him because I saw potential in him." I couldn't sleep now. I had to stay up. I had to apologize for my actions. She continued to take deep breaths in between each sentence. "The scar I gave him served as a reminder. He never forgot, and I would never have thought he would come to kill me." I got up when she said this last sentence.

"But you said you saw potential, right?" She froze. She turned slowly to look at me sitting up. "How's the ear, I hope I didn't do any real damage to it." She didn't say anything, instead, Weiss answered.

"You're lucky, her ear is fine, but your mind, is not."

I ignored her. "Look, Blake, I apologize for my actions that night. I never really took into mind the consequences I would face. I was bent up on anger and hate, I couldn't stop. I hope you can forgive me, one day." She shook her head, she was shocked by my apology.

"No, I should be apologizing. But... that won't be enough for what I have done to you. I can't think to imagine the trauma or fear you lived after that day. It must have been difficult to live on your own." She was sincere, but I couldn't just let it go that she killed my mother. I was about to say don't worry about it, but that's impossible.

"The thing that I noticed is that my semblance unlocked black energy for the first time. Normally it's white, like you saw when I towered over Weiss. You allowed me to unlock a power I didn't know exist. A part of me that wasn't there before. The black of my white." I smiled at this last statement. Kinda corny, yeah? Well, it sounds cool. Black and White. Blake simply smiled. A nurse came in.

"Nick Scarlet? You have a visitor." A visitor? Who could it be? I was an only child. I never knew anyone else in my family really, except -

Oh god no. I saw a girl in the doorway, about 4 years older than me. Erin, my cousin was there. She looked worried, and she slowly came to my bedside, sitting down to my left. "Are you alright? What happened? When will you be released? Who are those people?" She always asked too many questions. She has a semblance as well, and she works on the front lines for Atlas. She is able to conjure black flames into her broadsword. These flames can extend the blade or act more as a projectile. I have only seen it once, and only seen her once in the past 5 years - at my parent's funeral.

"Erin, I'm fine, really! Although, I did find out I have black energy in my semblance. As to what happened... I found my parents killer - well, at least one of them." Her eyes grew wide.

"Really? Did you kill him or her? How did you do it? How was the black energy released?" I simply sighed.

"I didn't kill her, actually, she's in the bed right... there." I pointed to Blake, and she was on her back again, trying not to be seen. Erin stood up, and the black flames engulfed her.

"You are the one of the people that ruined my cousin's life, you won't get out of here easily." I sat up and put my hand on her shoulder. She looked at me, and I just shook my head. She sat down, thank god.

"Don't worry. Now, the black energy. It was released when I saw Blake. I identified her weapon and knew it was her. I also was enraged at the 40 against 4 odds that Weiss and Blake - along with their friends - had. This energy took over and... well I killed all of those 40. Horribly. I went to Blake and almost cut off her ear, and then I ended up here..." Erin nodded.

"I knew you wouldn't have it in you. Which one is which?" She pointed to both of the girls on the other end of the room.

I put on my little German show. "Weiss ist in das Weiss, und Blake ist in der Schwarz." Erin rolled her eyes, and I chuckled. "Weiss is in the white, Blake is in the black." She nodded. "I wasn't able to do it thanks to Weiss. She was able to keep me preoccupied until I was knocked out by about 4 others." Erin scoffed.

"I knew you had a thing for pretty girls. Weiss sounds familiar for some reason though... I can't put my finger on it..." Erin put her hand in a fist and put it to her chin.

"She's the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company." Erin looked at her, and Weiss glared daggers into her eyes. Weiss seemed to have an instant hate for Erin, but Erin simply smiled.

"What did he do to win you over?" Weiss was taken aback by this, as was I. "No way, he played _Ice_ for you, didn't he?" Weiss blushed, and tried to hide her face in her own shoulder. She nodded as she did so. "I helped him write -"

"Bullshit! You didn't do anything to help!" I piped in now. Erin laughed, and admitted to her lie. "You remembered who I would play that song for." She nodded twice.

"If I remember correctly, it was 'For the most beautiful and cold girl you would ever meet' right?" I nodded to her.

"Apparently, Weiss is exactly that. I didn't know how cold she would be, I took a shot in the dark. All white, white is snow, snow is cold, snowflake crest, etc. I did get the beauty part spot on though." I looked to Weiss and smiled.

"For starters, he didn't 'Win me over'." Weiss piped in now. "He protected me, and I was happy he saved us. Help wouldn't have reached in time. He tried to kill my friend, that set me off."

Erin looked at me, and I just shrugged. Can't get her I guess. Oh well, I really should move on. The nurse came back in. "Nick, you are free to leave when you want." She had my clothes folded in her hands. Erin grabbed them and tossed them to me. Snatching them out of the air, I grabbed them and went into the bathroom adjacent to my bed and changed. I came out, and Blake was also ready to be released.

"Ready?" Erin said. She was standing at the door now.

"Yeah." I walked over to her. Weiss was still in her chair. "See you at Beacon, Snow Angel." She obviously had head that one before, and burst into laughter.

"Sure, Nick. See you there." She smiled at me and waved. Okay, maybe I shouldn't give up.

I made it to Beacon, thanks to Erin. She left after she dropped me off at the airship, she had to get back to Atlas. I walked in the courtyard, marveled at the size of the academy, and the view on the city. It was amazing.

At least, until I was punched in the face. I was spinning like a corkscrew until I hit the ground. I looked up to see the blonde girl over me, furious.

"How could they let scum like you attend Beacon." She had red eyes, which was _not_ normal.

"The headmaster invited me, he said he would meet me -"

I heard a voice and a loud boom. "Yang Xiao Long! You will leave our new member alone!" I looked over to see that man again.

"Ozpin, you let this guy attend Beacon? He's a murderer! He almost killed Blake!"

"But he didn't, he saved your lives. You should be thankful you are standing here today." She let out a "hmph" and stormed off. I got up, and met Ozpin where he was standing.

"So that's Yang? I heard stories of a blonde brawler with red eyes destroy a bar, is that her?" Ozpin nodded.

"Yes, now if you would come with me." He turned around and I followed him into the academy. We eventually made it to the dorms, and there was an empty room with 4 beds. "You will stay here tonight. Feel free to explore the school. Please, contact me if you have any questions." I pulled out my scroll so I could get his information. "It's already there, I put it in when you were at the hospital." He waved as he left. I laid down on my bed. All my things should arrive tomorrow, at least I got my sax and weapon with me.

I pulled out my sax, and began to warm up. I had nothing else to pass the time, and I didn't want to explore the school in fear of Yang. I began to play my favorite jazz song, titled _Zebrano_. The afro-cuban beat ran in my head as I played. Most of the music I had was memorized, except for a few songs which were at my apartment. I heard a knock at my door, so I stopped in the middle of my solo. That kind of pissed me off, but I dismissed it. I put the instrument down and went to the door. I looked down to see that a girl wearing a black dress like Weiss' with red trimming and a red cloak stood there. The same girl that was there last night. She seemed shy. I had to say something, she couldn't bear to speak.

"Look, if you are wondering about your friend, I'm sorry. She is okay, she got released from the hospital at the same time as me. They should be back soon."

She finally spoke. "I-it's not that. I j-just want to hear you play..." She was referring to my sax. "You see, I play guitar, and I'm really bored, too. Everyone is gone, so I was wondering if I could hear you play..." She seemed embarrassed.

"Sure, come on in! Actually, I also play guitar." Her face brightened when I said this.

"Really?! Hold on, let me get mine!" She disappeared in a flash of red roses, and came back in about four seconds. "Okay, here it is!" It was an electric guitar, as red as her cloak. The neck was made of mahogany. It seemed like a simple Schecter variant. I held it in my hands, and she held a guitar pick to me. I took it and she disappeared again. She came back with an amp and a chord. I plugged it in and began to play a song I wrote, which I titled _This Will be the Day_. She marveled at my solo.

"You're so good! I can't do any of those licks, or advanced changes. I don't get to play all that often as Weiss gets mad when I play with the amp on. It's no fun without the gain, you know?" I nodded and smiled.

"So you and Weiss share a dorm?" I asked.

"Yeah, same with Blake and Yang! We are team RWBY, and I am the leader. Oh, my name's Ruby."

"I'm Nick, it's nice to meet you Ruby." I smiled and extended my hand, she shook it with care. "Now, I hope you don't peg me as a psycho after what happened last night."

She shook her head. "It's alright."

"It is?" I was surprised by this. Not many people are alright with someone trying to kill their friend/teammate.

She nodded. "You saved our lives, and I experienced a similar situation. You see, my mother went to fight in an attempt to stop the white fang. She promised she would come back, but she never did... My father died when I was very young..." I could see the sadness in her face.

"Well, I'm sorry for your loss." She nodded, and I handed her the guitar. She began to play as well, some heavy power chords, and some licks.

"Weiss and I actually are working on a song together. We called it _Time to Say Goodbye_, but we can't finish it. Could you help?

"Of course! I love songwriting."

"Great! When she comes back, I will bring her in. Or vice versa." I nodded. She left to her dorm, and I decided to go on a walk around the school. It was very shortly after that I was pinned onto a wall.

"How the fuck did you get in here?" The voice was familiar, and so was his weapon at his hip. A sword and collapsible shield. This was the guy that knocked me out and brought me to my senses.

"Well, the headmaster asked me to attend." He spat on me. That's it. I grabbed his arms and pushed them to my side, which allowed me to shove him away. I ran at him and threw a side kick to his chest, knocking him on the ground. "You obviously aren't as good in combat as I thought. Leave me alone, man. I have already been punched in the face by Yang, it's been rough." I left. I rounded the corner to see Weiss and Ruby looking for me. Ruby pointed at me and ran up to me.

"Weiss, he plays guitar too! He might be able to help us with the song!" Weiss nodded.

"Come with us," she said, "we can talk about this in our dorm." I nodded and followed them. They walked in and I followed behind them, only to see Yang on the top right bunk.

"Weiss and Ruby, why is he here? Bad things are going to happen..." She cracked her knuckles.

"Yang, don't!" pleaded Ruby. "He is going to help Weiss and I with the song!"

"I don't like him, Ruby, he needs to leave."

"Well, in your bent up anger, I was able to take all the sheets from under you and your pillow, _and_ I was able to fold the sheets." Yang looked around to find me with the folded sheets and pillow in my arms.

"Whatever, just give me my bedspread back." I set handed to her as if I was a servant. She snatched them up and made her bed again.

"So, Nick, this isn't going to be very simple. We only have a lead guitar and vocalist. If we had a bassist and a drummer, it would be great. " Ruby said as she explained the situation.

"What do you have so far?" I asked. Weiss and Ruby looked at each other, then Weiss looked to me.

"Well, we have vocals for the chorus. We don't have anything -"

"Let me hear them."

"What? Not even-"

I cut her off again. "Let. Me. Hear. Them." She nodded and cleared her throat.

The song was slow and peaceful, yet it held a darker meaning. "Now it's time to say goodbye... to the things we love, and the innocence of youth. How the time seemed to fly... from our carefree lives, and the solitude and peace we always knew." Weiss finished and looked towards me. "So...? How does it sound?" I shook my head.

"You guys are taking the wrong approach to this. Ruby, give me your guitar." She grabbed it from the corner of the room and handed it to me. "Now, I just need to hear that again..." Weiss began to sing. I tried to play some bar chords with it, and that didn't work. "Ok, Ruby, can I have your guitar and amp for the rest of the day? I think I can figure this out." She nodded, and I took it to my room, which just so happened to be next door.

I looked at the clock, 9:22 PM. This took me a while, but I managed. I heard a knock at the door. As I opened the door, I saw Yang there. She looked calm and collected. "What's up?" I asked.

"I can play drums." She quickly said.

I was taken aback by this, will my dreams of a band come true? "Say that again?"

She sighed, and she said it again, "I can play the drums." I invited her in. "There is a drum set in the instrument room, if you want to see."

"First, you aren't going to punch me, are you?" I had to ask. She packed one hell of a punch, and I did _not _want to experience that again. She just laughed and shook her head to indicate she wouldn't. "Alright, show me. Let me grab the guitar and amp, as well as the papers."

She finished playing. It was enough for me to develop a beat for her. I began to play the opening, and she started the bass drum with the beat. After the buildup, she did her fill. I stopped her.

"Why stop, that was awesome!"

"Go get them." She simply nodded at me.

It wasn't long until Blake, Ruby, and Weiss were here. I gave Ruby her guitar, and I picked one up from the wall. I gave Ruby the music, and I got on the mic. Weiss looked at me, puzzled. "I can sing, too." Everyone stared at me, obviously surprised that I could sing. "What? Ruby, do you understand the tabs?" She nodded. "Alright, let's go."

Yang started us off with hits on her stick to lay down the tempo. I began. "There's a point where it tips, there's a point where it breaks, there's a point where bends, and a point we just can't take anymore..." I continued, and when Yang did her fill, that was Ruby's cue to turn up. "We can't just wait, with lives at stake, until they think we're ready! Our enemies are gathering, our storm is growing deadly!" The chorus was here, and Yang did her quick fill. "Now it's time to say goodbye, to the things we love, and the innocence of youth! How the time seemed to fly from our carefree lives and the solitude and peace we always knew..." Ruby did her mini-solo, which she pulled off with ease. "There's a where we'll fight and we're not gonna fall, there's a day that we'll stand and a day where we won't crawl, anymore." I did my own lick. "There's a moment in time where there's no going back, where we're pushed to hard and we won't hold our attack, _anymore..._" I did another lick. "We can't just cling to childish things as evil just grows closer! Humanity's in jeopardy, this fight is far from over!" I repeated the chorus, and we reached the bridge. The song slowed down for dramatic effect. The guitar stopped, and the drums remained. "Were we born to fight and die... sacrificed for one huge lie?" Ruby did the pick down the string technique to allow the power chords to fit. Everyone was in now. "Are we heroes keeping peace? Or are we weapons? Pointed at the enemy so someone else can claim a victory..." The room was silent, until Yang did her fill so I could perform my solo. I started with an insanely fast lick down the guitar. This translated into a fitting few notes, into some pull of's and hammer on's. This led to another lick, leading into the chorus for one last time. Ruby and I hit the last chord together, as Yang ended the beat. Weiss was awestruck, and Blake nodded in approvement. She then said something I would never have thought to hear her say.

"You know, Nick, I can play piano and bass guitar too." Everyone's jaws hit the floor.

"I need to put in a bass part. This is too good to pass up!" She smiled. "Hey, guys, how about this..." everyone's eyes were on me, "lets form a band, how about it?"

Ruby instantly chirped at the offer. "YES, Please guys, lets do it! We have the talent, so why not do it? We can make originals, do covers, ooooh, perform for the school! We would make money!"

Yang was the next one to pipe in, "Yeah! I love that idea!"

Next was Blake, "Sounds good to me. Let's do it!"

Finally, everyone was trained on Weiss. "We need a singer, Weiss!" I said to her.

"B-but, you already have that down. I would just bring you down!" She pleaded against the idea. Time for another Trump Card.

"Weiss, with your beauty and your voice, people are _bound_ to come see the heiress of the Schnee dust company sing!" She sighed.

"Well, I suppose it could be fun." She agreed! Yes! My dream has come true!

Ruby spoke up. "What should our band name be? How about The Roses! Oooh, or Crescent!" I laughed. "What, not good?"

"No, those aren't really bad, but they don't fit us." I thought for a moment. Ruby is red, Weiss is White, Blake is black, and Yang is yellow. At least, their clothing styles. "How about RWBY? That sounds awesome to me!" They all burst out in laughter. "What, is that not a good one?"

Weiss put her hand on my shoulder. "No, it's just that- " she chuckled again, "that's our team name!" She laughed again.

"What, really? I just put all of you together by color, red, white, black, yellow, seems to work."

"Nick, that's a great name. Lets use that one." Everyone else nodded.

"Alright, then it's settled." There were cheers from Yang and Ruby, a smile from Blake, and a nod from Weiss. "You guys, Team RWBY, and I will be a band." White energy began to flow from my body, "Oh man, this is so cool! I've waited for this for way too long! A band, and I'm in it! This is-" the energy was growing around me, and it took out some lights. "Well, that's not good." I sheepishly laughed, and Weiss facepalmed. Blake just sighed. "Looks like we are done here, what's next?"

We were greeted with the voice of Ozpin. "Well, hopefully sleep, because you have your initiation tomorrow morning." I quickly turned to locate him standing at the door. I cursed under my breathe. Completely forgot about that. I just groaned as I walked off.

"I'll start working on another song tomorrow, maybe I can get help from all of you?" Ruby nodded quickly, and I just left. As I rounded the corner, Ozpin stopped me. "What's up?" I asked nonchalantly.

"Nick, you belong here." He said matter-of-factly. I raised my eyebrow at him, questioning his logic. "You have already made friends with people that at one time hated you. I'd say that's a big improvement. You have also strengthened your bond with Miss Schnee." I couldn't help but burst out into laughter when he said this. He raised an eyebrow quizzically at me.

"There is no 'bond' between Weiss and I. I just invited her to join the band and she said yes. Nothing more." Ozpin shook his head.

"Nick, you don't see how differently she acts around you. She is more conservative around you, while she can be more radical around her teammates. Almost all the time she yells at Ruby or Yang, but when you are around, she seems... calm." Well, that's something I never knew. "Just be ready tomorrow. Team RWBY will be there to assist you tomorrow morning." He walked off, then stopped just before he was out of earshot, and said, "Well, at least one member in particular..." He laughed to himself and walked away.

By the time I got back to my dorm, it was already 11 PM, and I had to be at the cliffs by 10 AM tomorrow. I couldn't help but think what he meant by 'the bond'. I guess it will have to wait.


	3. Initiation day

**Hey guys! I know this took a while longer, but here it is! I do not own any of the songs that are in this chapter, and I do not own RWBY. Next chapter should come tomorrow!**

**-Crilian**

* * *

Initiation Day

I woke up to the sound of my music, and currently playing was, "It's Over When It's Over". I just let it play, I love this song. In fact, I turned off my alarm and turned the song on for real, turning it up to the max over the speakers that are in my sax case. I'm so glad I made that. It wasn't long until I heard someone banging on my door "NICK!" The voice from the other side of the door. "OPEN UP, RIGHT NOW!" I went over to the door, only my pants were on, revealing my chest. I opened up the door to see Weiss there. She was _not _happy. In fact, she was going to knock when I opened the door, but she ended up half-punching me in the chest. Not being prepared for this, I took a few steps back. The music was able to flow into the hall, only causing Weiss to yell louder. "TURN IT DOWN. YANG WILL BLOW A HOLE THROUGH YOUR WALL IF YOU DON'T." I went to my case and turned it off. She simply sighed. "Thank you. Now if you will excuse me, I have to get ready." She turned to walk away, and I looked at the clock. 8:53 in the morning.

"Get ready for what, exactly? It's a Saturday." She stopped and turned to me. She quickly blushed and turned away.

"I... can't tell you." She ran into her dorm room, and shut the door. I was intrigued, but it would have to wait, I had to get ready. Initiation was at 10, and I had no idea how to get the cliffs, and which part exactly? Beacon is _on _a cliff. The base of the school was huge already, and the radius of the cliff is about 4 miles. I put my shirt on, brushed my teeth, the usual routine. I looked at the clock when this was done. 9:17, so I had time to go over my weapon. I had set it on one of the desks when I came to this room yesterday. The sun was shining through the crack in the curtain onto one of the blades. The other was in the shadows. I walked over and picked it up. The wave design at the blunt sides of the blades were brought out by the sun shining onto it. I looked for any scratches or cracks, only to find none present. I exerted some energy, this time it was white, as usual. The energy flowed into the blades, the way they were supposed to function. Looking back at the clock, it read 9:24. Shit, time flew. I have to get to the cliffs! I sheathe my weapon and run out the door. As I round the corner, team RWBY is just leaving, waiting for Ruby to lock the door. I couldn't stop quickly enough, and I ran into all four of them.

"Nick, what the hell? Watch where you're going!" I was sprawled out over Yang, and her eyes were red. She's obviously angry. The next thing I know, she raised a fist, but I was able to get up quickly enough and run past them.

"Heynicetoseeyougottagettothecliffs'kayseeyabye!" I said quickly as I rounded the corner. I eventually made it out into the front of the school and decided to check the back of the school first.

After making it behind the school, Professor Ozpin and team RWBY were there waiting for me.

"Ah, Nick! So good of you to join us today. You..." he looked at his watch, "just made it." I sighed. I couldn't help but wonder how all of RWBY made it there before I did.

"So, what is initiation?" I asked.

"You will be launched into the forest with a partner. I happened to choose team RWBY to assist me. You will choose a number, one through four. That number is the team member you will be assigned to. Said team member will launch into the forest with you. Your objective is to retrieve a relic and make it back to the cliffs. Understood?" I nodded. "Good, now choose a number."

I thought about it for a while, and I decided. "I choose 3."

Ozpin scoffed, "You are assigned to Weiss Schnee." I nodded again, and went to one of the platforms he directed me towards. "For the sake of this exercise, you two will land near each other. Don't bother to kill everything in your path, or you will die." I smiled to Weiss and flashed a peace sign, silently saying 'I've got this'. She smiled back, and we were prepared to launch into the forest. "Get ready. I will launch you... now." and with that, we launched into the forest.

After I reached the top of the arc, I began to fall. Erin was the first person to teach me about landing strategies. I used my energy to propel me backwards to slow down. I saw Weiss close by, using glyphs to reach the bottom, slowing herself and jumping off every other one, until she reached the bottom. I propelled myself above her, and forced myself down to stop moving sideways. I fired off the energy to the ground, slowing myself until I reached the ground. No time to smile, let's get this over with. "Let's go." I said.

We ran, and we ran, and we ran. Eventually, we made it to a stone shrine-like construction. It had wreckage, and there was just one chess piece there. A pawn stood, and I shrugged and took it. "Let's get back to the cliffs." Weiss said. I nodded and we just walked. She was too tired to run anymore. Me? I was fine, I had to be polite.

We walked through the forest until we reached an opening that led to the cliffs of Beacon. This was a bit... too simple. I heard rustling in the bushes. A gust of wind swept through, and I turned around. I faced 3 Ursa Majors, a pack of Beowolves, and a King Taiju. "Nick, we can't do this. Let's just run to the cliffs." Weiss said. I shook my head. "Damn it, this isn't time to play 'Hero' Nick! We _need _to get to the cliffs."

I turned to her. "I'm _not _going to be a coward. I want a challenge, this was too easy so far." She sighed and she got into a stance, signaling me to engage the enemy. I started with the pack of beowolves to my right. I located the alpha and sped to it. I put my energy into the blades, and swung. The alpha dropped quickly, and I turned to the other beowolves. They jumped right up to me, and I did my favorite takedown, a simple diagonal cut is seen to the naked eye, but it is much more. The beowolves burst apart, splattering blood everywhere behind me. Those other strikes are almost as fast as the speed of sound. Wind swept through the forest just after the beowolves exploded into a bloody mess. I turned to the Ursa Majors. These would be harder to take down then the beowolves, so I couldn't treat them the same.

That is, until Weiss took them down. One was frozen, which I then shattered with a kick. The other was lit on fire, flailing until it's death. The last one Weiss disposed of with a combo. She knocked it into the air, spun her blade in a circle, allowing her to hit it twice. She swung the sword in a downward arc, sending the Ursa Major flying to the ground. She ended it with a stab in it's skull. Honestly, it was pretty badass. Now, to deal with the King Taiju...

I turned to face the giant snake-like creature. Weiss tapped my shoulder, and I took off. I jumped onto it's head, and began to flow my energy through the giant snake. This stunned it for about two seconds, which was all Weiss and I needed. I hopped down and we knocked it into the air. Weiss readied a glyph and I got onto it. "Don't miss." She said. The next thing I knew, I was flying towards the creature. It was coiled until I reached it's tail, and it straightened out, allowing me to run to the center of the Taiju and perform a similar spike that Weiss did, only sending it into the abyss below us. I fell to the ground, using the blunt side of my weapon to spin down a tree, giving me a safe decent.

Weiss and I smiled at each other, and we went to the cliffs. She scaled the cliff before me, and I was just behind her.

And, of course, it wasn't that smooth. A nevermore hit me when I was about halfway up. Weiss was already at the top, and she didn't notice I got hit. I fell into the abyss until I stuck my sword in the cliff side. I pulled myself up to stand on it, and looked up to see two Nevermores guarding the cliffs. The only way to get past was to kill them. I propped my feet up against the wall, and launched myself with my sword in hand. I was able to get back to the same opening where Weiss and I fought the King Taiju. There was no way I could reach them, even if I jumped normally. I had to think.

"Nick, get to the cliffs!" I heard Weiss scream. It sounded like a whisper from my distance, but I had to get back up there. I ran. The bridge let out to another stone building. I hopped on top of it, ready for both of the nevermore's. They came down on top of me, flying diagonally to hit me at once in an X like fashion. I waited until the last second and jumped backwards. Unfortunately for me, they destroyed the building I was standing on. I was able to jump off the rubble and get on to the bridge. Only one of the nevermore's was visible. I shot some energy at it's wing. This caused it to spiral into the ground nearby. I ran over and preformed a takedown. One down, one to go. The other one came out from the abyss. I jumped onto it's head and stabbed my blade into it's skull. I ran along the back of the nevermore until it was opened up at the top. I finished by jumping off the center and slicing it in half with a downward arc. The nevermore fell to the ground with a satisfying 'thunk'. I turned behind me, I heard something. An army of grim stood before me. They managed to get behind me, and I had nowhere to run. Deathstalkers, Ursai, and Beowolves surrounded me. The beowolves struck first.

I was flown aside by something. I looked to see Weiss there, only to see her get swiped by a beowolf. She fell to the ground, and her once white jacket and shirt was now filling with blood. I had to get her back, but I couldn't without dealing with these grimm. Black energy engulfed me, similar to when I tried to kill Blake. I went to work. Disposing of a beowolf, I moved to the next thing beside me, an Ursa. I quickly lobbed off it's limbs. Grimm were coming, faster and faster. I had to do something that I promised I wouldn't ever do... unless it was necessary. Life or death, this is what had to be done. I combined my energy into my blades, and they started to form together. This isn't supposed to happen, they normally break apart. Is it the energy? The blades combined to make a 9 feet long masamune. My hair was silver, and they were going to pay. I waited until the next creature of grimm moved in to strike. I quickly disposed of it. With a sideways cut, I disposed of the three grimm in front of me. They kept coming, and I just moved faster and faster. Eventually, I was overpowered by the deathstalkers, and I exploded my energy. This sent the grimm flying, killing most, as the others fell. The ones that moved I quickly hacked and slashed to their deaths. I ran to Weiss after I confirmed that all of them were dead.

She coughed up blood. "Nick.." she managed weakly. "don't die... I can't live without you..." I looked down at my own body to see it gushing with blood. The black I had on was now turning a dark shade of red. My arms had been torn, and upon that sight, I passed out.

I woke up in another hospital bed. Great, only about two days and I'm in another hospital. This one seemed... smaller. I felt something rustle on my chest. Weiss was there, sleeping. Didn't she get injured, too? "She's been with you all night." A voice said. I turned to see Yang there. She had a half smirk on her face. I couldn't sit up, in fear I would wake up Weiss.

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"About four days. Weiss was released yesterday but took the day off to stay here." Yang answered. I looked down at her and sighed.

"I'm not going to be able to sit up, am I?" Yang chuckled and shook her head.

"Nick, what you did was... amazing. I haven't seen anything like it. RWBY has only been able to take down one nevermore, and JNPR has only been able to take down a single deathstalker. What you did was amazing. Ozpin wants to talk to you when you are released." Yang explained. What I did was amazing? I didn't think much of it. I didn't have much time to think until two people walked in, a man and a woman. The man seemed to be about as tall as me, with blue eyes and white hair. He wore a suit, as if he just got here from work. The other woman had long white hair with similar ice-blue eyes. She stood a respectable height. Not too short, and not as tall as the man. I looked at the woman some more, and noticed she looked like... Weiss?! Are these her parents? Oh god, this isn't good to be seen like this. I looked for Yang, but she was outside, flashing two thumbs up. I looked at the man in horror, and put my head back to my pillow. He stepped forward and cleared his throat.

"You're the one who saved my daughter?" He asked. I looked at him and nodded. Parents confirmed, death is imminent. He pulled up a seat and sat to my right, while Weiss was asleep to my left. He smiled. "I'm glad you protected her. I got a letter about someone who tried to kill her friend... despicable, isn't it? But, he did save her life that day." I tensed up. I couldn't look him in the eyes. He was speaking about me. He didn't know what I looked like, but still, _me_. That was _me_. He saw me tense up. "Were you there, too?" He asked. I laughed sheepishly.

I couldn't bear to tell him I was the one who tried to kill Blake. "Well, I was on the roof behind them. I saw this guy come in and wipe up a bunch of white fang members. Then, he turned to Blake, who he then began to... yeah. You know the story." He nodded.

"I am glad you have saved my daughter, although..." he jerked his head to Weiss, "I have never seen this before." My face became red. The woman spoke up.

"Oh, stop it! She's fine, just... watching over him, that's all!" She laughed sheepishly. Weiss shifted, and everyone froze. She mumbled something and remained asleep.

"Ah... anyway I can get up from here?" I was whispering now. "I don't think it would be pretty if I woke her up." They both shook their heads. "Great..." Weiss now woke up with a scream.

"_Nick, NO!_" She screamed. She bolted upright and looked at me in the eyes. She sighed in relief. "Sorry, just... a bad dream." She said sleepily.

"I'm right here, don't worry. I didn't die. You think _that_ would be enough to kill me? Come on, let's be realistic here." She slugged me in the arm. "Hey, I just woke up about 10 minutes ago! Cut me some slack." She laughed, and then she saw her parents. She stood up.

"Father, mother! What are you doing here?" She asked quickly. Her face was as red as mine was before.

"We heard you were in the hospital, and this young man saved you." Her father responded.

"Oh. I guess that was obvious..." she said. Her father let out a hearty laugh. I grabbed a glass of water on the table next to me.

"Yes, well I guess you have your head clouded by your _boyfriend_ here." I choked on my drink. Weiss blushed. His voice grew somber. "We came here to see him, not you."

"Yo, what? Boyfriend? I'm sorry, but we just got out of an army of grimm _alive_," I stood up now, "and you think she wasn't worried about my horrible condition? Look at my fucking _arm._" I pulled up the right sleeve on the robe that I had on. "I have more on my chest, you want to see? And you didn't come here for your daughter? How fucked up can you be? I swear to god if you aren't joking..." Black energy radiated off my body. My hair was turning silver.

"Nick, please, he didn't mean it like that." Weiss said.

"No! All I see is a fucking prick in front of me. A horrible father, someone who doesn't know how her daughter will feel when he's _gone_, like mine did. He was never around, Weiss! How can you care about this man? He isn't your father! He trained you to be a businesswoman when you were _way _too young. Your mind was corrupted! You never had friends, you only had _servants_ that did whatever you wanted them to do! I'm sure he despises the white fang as much as I do, but that seems to be all he cares about! His company! With a target painted on him, it must be hard, sure, but you think it would be possible to have some fucking _respect _for his daughter. Some feelings for her. Weiss, you almost died before me, and he cares about _ME!?_ That's fucked up. I can't stand to look at him anymore. Nurse!" A nurse ran in.

"Yes?" she asked. Tension filled the air.

"Get this _scum_ of a man out of my room." She quickly nodded and pulled him out. I sighed. My hair turned back to it's normal color. "Now, Mrs. Schnee, I am sorry you had to see me like that. I just... I can't stand people like him - no offense to you."

"None taken." She said.

"It's just that he doesn't care about his own daughter who is right in front of him! I can't stand him." Weiss hugged me.

"Nick, don't worry about him. He did all he could to be with me." She said quietly. Tears flowed down her face.

"No, he didn't! Obviously he doesn't care about you!" I yelled. She couldn't stop crying. I pulled her face out of my shoulder. "Look at me, Weiss." I said. Her eyes were red, as well as her face. She was taking deep breaths. "I won't let him say anything like that to you again. Don't worry." She smiled, and she embraced me again.

Her mother, who was as still as a statue, quietly spoke. "I will leave you two alone. It was good to see you Weiss." She quickly walked out and shut the door. Weiss' breathing was steady now, but she was still crying.

"Hey, Weiss. How about after I get out of here, you and I go out for some dinner? How does that sound? My treat!" She looked at me and nodded. She was smiling now, and she wasn't crying anymore.

"That sounds great, Nick. I would love to." She still held on to me.

"First, can I breathe?" I said. She instantly let go and blushed as she turned her head away. I took a deep breathe, making sure to be dramatic. Weiss slugged me in the arm. "Hey, watch it!" I said. We sat there in a comfortable silence for what felt like years.

A nurse came in. "Nick?" She asked. I looked at her in the eyes. "You are free to leave now. Your wounds are still a problem, but they will heal over time. You are restricted to any more combat training for another week and a half. Once that time is done, you are free to do as you please." I groaned. A week and a half? That's too long.

"Alright, I will be sure to report anything unusual to you." She nodded. I got up and retrieved my clothes from the bedside table and went into the bathroom to get changed. After I had my pants on I walked out as I put my shirt on. Weiss was there.

"You ready to go?" She asked.

"Yeah." We walked outside of the infirmary, and I remembered what Yang had said. "Yang said I had to go see Ozpin after I was released." She nodded.

"So I've heard." We walked to his office, and I knocked.

"Come in." I heard. Weiss and I entered. "Oh, Nick. I would like to talk to you in private, please." He said when he saw Weiss. I nodded to her, and she left. "Please, have a seat." I sat down in one of the seats he waved to. "Now, let's talk about your initiation." He brought up a holographic image of the pawn that I retrieved. "Do you know what this is?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's a pawn. But... why a pawn?" I asked.

"Pawns are the strongest and weakest pieces on the chess boards. They open up many strategies. Sacrifices are made around pawns. but those sacrifices are always made to the greater good."

"Well, of course, but why does that come into play here?" I asked. He got very serious.

"Nick, what you did is something that the top huntsman at this school can't even think to achieve. From what I saw, you have energy. Do you know where that comes from?" I shook my head. "Nick, that's something that is passed only in the Scarlet family. It hasn't been around for about two centuries. The last person to posses that power was able to stop the grimm, and he establishing the kingdom of Atlas." I nodded. "Nick, I have a deal to strike with you."

"I'm listening..."

"I want you to lead team RWBY." I coughed.

"Wait, what? You want me to lead RWBY?" He nodded.

"From what I have seen, you have already made a certain bond with all of them. Your leadership would be perfect. They could use you." I thought about it for a second.

"What would the team name be with my addition? NRWBY? RWNBY? RWBYN?" He laughed.

"Your team's name would be RWBYS. Your last name is widely known, so it's only fitting." I laughed.

"Alright, I'll do it." He stood up, and so did I.

"Good! I hope to see great things from you Nick." He extended his hand, and I shook it. I began to leave, but once I got to the door, he spoke. "Also, I heard about your feud with Mr. Schnee." I froze. "No one has ever stood up to him like that before, you know?" I laughed.

"He isn't that intimidating. He relies on his company. He's a coward." I said. Ozpin laughed and waved me off.

As I exited, Weiss was standing there. "So?" She asked.

"I'm your leader now." I looked into her eyes and towered over her. "Don't try anything funny from now on." She backed up with horror struck on her face. I laughed. "I'm just kidding with you, but I am your leader now. I wonder how Ruby will feel..." Weiss looked worried now. "What?" I asked.

"Ruby is _not_ going to be happy with this." I now know why she was worried. Her reaction...

We walked to the dorm. I was to be in the same dorm as the team. They didn't have any space... I'll make it work. Weiss opened it up. RBY was in there, and we, WS, were outside. Yang was the first to speak up.

"Hey, where have you been, Weiss? You haven't answered your scroll and- oh no way. You _didn't_." She teased.

"No, you _dolt_, I had to show him to Ozpin's office." Yang remembered now. And she nodded. "And... well... Nick is a part of our team now..." The girls smiled.

"Sweet! Another badass on the team, finally!" Yang exclaimed.

"Wait... h-he's... our leader now." Ruby collapsed to her knees from her standing position.

"N-no way..." she was too stunned to cry. I couldn't do anything, so I did what I normally do. Stand there, awkwardly. I had to think, it was because of me that she's crying. Uhhh... Uhh... Fuck. What do I do? Everyone was looking at me. I started breathing faster and faster. It hit me.

"Ruby, even though you aren't leader anymore, you can still be... co-leader! Yeah, and you get to help with some lyrics on the songs we write!" Her crying seemed to slow.

She sniffled. "R-really?" She asked. Her silver eyes bore into mine.

"Of course! Why not. I think that I have some strategies already that will make you even stronger! You might even be able to do what I did - just don't end up in the hospital." I joked. She laughed at me.

"Alright... that's fine. Ozpin has his reasons." I sighed in relief, and everyone went to their respective positions. I heard a knock at the door and I answered it. What greeted me was a box with a note on it.

_Here are your materials for schoolwork, I know I didn't make a mistake. Oh, also, you have a duel with RWBY when you recover. 4th years will be there. Don't disappoint me._

_-Ozpin._

I sighed and picked up the box. It was heavy, like, _really _heavy. I opened it to see 5 uniforms, all the same. I tossed those away, and found a scroll. I never owned one, and I was happy to see it. I set it on the ground and found textbooks. I kicked it to the wall. I did _not_ want to see those. School and I just don't mix. I saw my schedule in Weiss' hands. How did I miss that? There's no way I could have skipped it.

"Grimm Studies, Calculus, History, Sparring. Looks like it's generally the same as ours. You have two open classes." She scoffed. "We all have to take 6, I guess you are different." I sighed. Only four classes, I could get behind that. I looked around for a clock, after I found one in between the "bunk beds", it read 2:27. I would love to do some training with these guys. I had some ideas from those 4 days in the hospital.

"Hey, if you guys don't mind, can I talk to you about some combinations I thought of?" Ruby perked up, Blake turned to face me, Yang stood up, and Weiss looked intrigued. "Well, I thought of about 6 things. The first one is pretty simple. This is all going to involve teams of two, so bear with me." They all nodded. "The first one I call 'Checkmate', involving Blake and Weiss. Basically, it's a flurry of quick and deft strikes dealt to a single target. This will force them to go on the defensive." Weiss' had a growing smile. Blake showed a small smirk. "The next one is called 'Ladybug'. As the name suggests, it is Ruby and Blake. You guys get the pattern?" Everyone nodded. "Ok. This is more of a sweeping set of strikes, using Blake's semblance and Ruby's speed. You two will perform quick strikes to the legs of your opponent, who is generally large." They both nodded. Ruby was excited. She was growing more and more intrigued. "The next one is called 'Freezer Burn'. From what I have seen, Weiss can produce ice wherever she wants, and Yang, well, you burn." They both nodded. "This is more of a distraction that impairs the vision of the opponent. Weiss will make a circle of ice, as if it was an ice rink, while Yang will hop into the air before she does this. Yang, you come down and slam the ice with your fists, which will break it apart. Then, you must use your semblance to make some sort of steam appear from the ice." She hit her fists together in approval. Weiss sat down next to me now. "The next one is called 'Bumblebee'. Blake, you will throw your weapon to Yang, and she needs to grab this. From here on, you must build momentum in a circular pattern, causing Yang's punch to pack more of a... punch." I took a deep breath. "And finally, and personally my favorite, is called 'Ice Flower'. Ruby, you will need to use the sniper form of your weapon for this. Weiss, you will ready three glyphs. The first one is your projectiles. The second one puts ice on them, and the third sends Ruby's bullet flying. These glyphs will all be in a line. Ruby, your bullet will take the effects of the latter two. This will immobilize, or even knock out an opponent." They both nodded. "And that's all I got." Ruby was jumping up and down at my ideas. Yang pumped her fist in the air, Weiss stood up and looked at me as if I was a genius, but Blake was skeptical.

"Nick, what about you?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"Us four all have combos, but what about you?" They all looked towards me.

"Yeah, what about you?" Ruby asked. I shrugged.

"I never really thought about it. I don't really know enough about how I work with you guys." Weiss read the note that Ozpin had on the box. I didn't notice she had that, too.

"Nick, what is this?" She held the note up to me. I re-read it, just to be sure I wouldn't leave out any details. I sighed.

"Well, in about a week and a half, we have a duel. RWBY vs me. It should be fair, honestly." I thought about it. "Fuck, I just told you all those combos! These were designed to take down a single opponent who is too strong for just one to handle alone." They all laughed.

"Nick, I don't think we could _dream_ to beat you. You're way out of our league! What you did on initiation day was awesome!" Yang exclaimed.

I knew the truth, and they didn't. "Yeah, we probably can't do it, even with these combos!" Ruby added.

My mind was bending, on the verge of snapping. "Yeah, it will be difficult." Blake added.

I was so close to snapping. "We will probably lose to you, Nick." She laughed. They all did.

I snapped. "_NO, _you don't even _know _where this _power_ comes from! I only did so well because I had to protect the one I love! I can't let her die before me! What will I be worth if I let her die? If Weiss died, I wouldn't know what to do with myself! I'd leave, I wouldn't come back! Have you even thought about that? I was angry! I had silver hair! Everything changes when I have black energy out! I become enraged, and ignore pain! You think that's helpful? You don't know what _pain_ I have had to fucking endure in order to even _live_. The only way I go on is because I know I have a purpose, but I haven't found it yet! Don't go _assuming_ you guys will lose! That's when you actually lose!" I was standing, and energy was filling the room. Weiss embraced me from behind. When did she get there? I stopped. My energy was slowly dissipating.

"Nick, it's ok. We didn't mean it." Ruby said. "We just wanted to re-encourage you."

"I don't need it!" I snapped at Ruby. She took a step back. I came to realization of what I said. _The one I love_... is that really how I feel? I ran out of the room, to find my only refuge.

The instrumental room was always open, but barely anyone used it - or so I am told by Yang. I found a guitar and a pen and paper. I began to write a song. It's the only thing that can clear my head. I have never been able to just write before, but I did it. I poured everything into this. Emotion, experience, etc. I started it with a palm-muted chord progression, making the lyrics stand out more. "I still have too long a life ahead Just to give up and drop all of these dreams. I just want to try and fix all the things that I've left undone." I played a simple riff that leads into the verse. The palm muted chords returned. "I thought that I could reach something carried over I saw within my dreams, and yet I stumble on all my actions on this road that's in front of me." My voice dropped in pitch. "It's not like I want things to go back to the way before, all I want is to open my eyes and feel the sun. Don't let them see that you're afraid, no, don't make a face - and no, you can't let them know you want them to pity you!" The song picked up. I gave it more of a rap beat. I strummed twice with each new line. "You can't let every single sin end with tears. Wear them proudly on your sleeve along with your fears. It's like your waiting for someone to draw near in a maze of emotion. There comes a day where you find a way to escape. A blank page, now I'm writing out my own fate! I've grown tired of running away from a thing called reality." Now the chorus. Back to more singing, and open chords. "And I will scream from the top of my lungs! I'm living to fulfill my hopes. I'm not longer taking the safer way out of anything! I'll always find strength from those who will help me, they'll always be there by my side. The hope for tomorrow will help me ease all my pain today!" I finished. I looked down at the paper and read what I wrote. It was a masterpiece. I could expand on it, but leaving it as it is seems fine. I heard clapping. I quickly looked up and saw Weiss standing there. I sighed.

"What do you want? " I asked. I wasn't in the mood to talk with her, or anyone really.

"We're worried about you. I came to see how you were doing." She chuckled. "Well, Yang's pissed off at Ruby, Ruby's sad, and Blake is reading." She whispered. "I'm the on..." her voice trailed off. I couldn't hear what she said.

"Excuse me? What was that last part." She said it a little louder, but I still couldn't hear her. "Again, louder this time, please?" She took a deep breath.

"I'm the one that's worried about you!" she yelled. She quickly recovered, her face was now a bright shade of red. I stood up and walked over to her. She finally looked up at me.

I, for the first time, hugged Weiss. "Thank you." I said quietly, just so she could hear it. She scoffed, but it was light and meaningful. It wasn't meant to hurt my feelings.

"Just don't snap next time, ok? Try to be calm." I nodded in her shoulder. I looked at the clock in the instrumental room.

"Uhh, Weiss? How long was I down here?" I asked. She looked at the clock.

"You were missing for two hours." She answered.

"Shit!" I quickly let go. "We have dinner tonight!" Her eyes widened. "I need to get ready, I can't go in this!" I had only basketball shorts and a T-shirt on.

"You? Your a _guy_, you won't take more than 40 minutes! I have makeup, I have to choose an outfit... oh god." she answered quickly. I laughed.

"Well, lets go get ready." I said. She nodded, and we ran to our room.


	4. The Date and the Performance

**Hey guys, Crilian here! Just going to say that the songs here are by NateWantsToBattle on youtube. Check him out! Smash is owned by Nintendo. **

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The Date and the Performance

We got to the room door, and Weiss stopped me. I looked at her in confusion. "Why are we stopping?"

"They are going to wonder where we are going. Eventually, they will pick up on it, but we can be subtle." She stopped for a second. "You can be subtle about this, right?"

"Yeah, I have a plan. I will leave and head to the front by the time you get into the shower. When they ask, I am just going on to town for a while. When you get ready, just say you need to pick up some things, and you might be a while." She nodded. I sighed. "Let's go!" We entered. Yang was on her bed, Ruby was at a desk, and Blake was reading on her bed. They all looked at the door when we entered.

"Listen, guys, I'm sorry that I snapped. I promise it won't happen again." I scoffed. "And I promise I won't lose." Ruby took the challenge. What was a weak apology originally, turned into a challenge.

"It's alright! We won't lose!" Ruby said quickly. Yang and Blake just nodded. I sighed in relief.

"Well, I hate to leave you guys again, but I have to go into town to pick up a few things. I might be a while, so don't worry too much. You all have my contact information, right?" They all nodded. "Alright, I'm gonna go get ready." I grabbed some clothes that were in a suitcase that was recently dropped off. I went into the bathroom to take a quick shower. As I stepped into the hot water, all the strain and anger just left my body, replacing them was bliss. I quickly finished the shower, got changed, brushed my teeth, applied deodorant... and, my hair. I swear I am the only guy that worries about his hair, but it can't be helped. It had grown too long, and I needed some help with a different style. "Hey, who is the best with hair in here?" Yang instantly perked up.

"Can you repeat that?" She asked quickly. I sighed.

"I need help with my hair." Her face brightened.

"Wait there." she said. She jumped down and appeared in front of me instantly. She inspected my hair as if it was a foreign object. Something that hasn't been discovered or explored before. Well, I'll be honest, it was. She quickly snapped her fingers. "I got it!" She exclaimed. She pushed me into the bathroom with her and closed the door. I felt her fingers dig into my head as she went to work. I felt a thick liquid come into contact with my hair. Gel? I have never even thought about that before. When she was done, I was finally able to see what she had done. My hair was simple, yet stylish now. It was pushed up at the front, and it curved like a wave about to break on a beach. The rest of my hair was all at an even level with it. Yang came out of the bathroom.

She cleared her throat. "I present to you all, Nick 2.0!" She pulled me out of the bathroom. The only one that saw what I was wearing was Yang and myself. Ruby put her hands to her lips, Weiss blushed, and Blake nodded in approval. I wore a blue and black shirt with tiny and short stripes on it. It had buttons at the chest area, which only the first two were buttoned, the third revealed my skin. It had a hood at the back with strings to tighten it, although they weren't necessary, they were stylish. I also had black skinny jeans on. Simple, black skinny jeans. "Pretty handsome, yeah!" Everyone nodded. I felt a slap on my back. "Ok, well go out and do your thing now!" Yang said. I left. By the time I rounded the corner, I told Weiss to get ready. Now, I wait outside of Beacon.

I got a message on my scroll. _They seem to be catching on, help!_ I sighed. I couldn't just come back to the room, that would give it away.

_Just play it cool. You are... cool XD. Don't worry, just try to play it off as much as you can. _I typed out on my scroll and sent the message.

About 45 minutes later, Weiss came out in front of Beacon. The sight of her took my breath away. She wore white jeans, and a blue T-shirt that was cropped in the back. It was loose, and captured her beauty perfectly. Her hair was in the same ponytail, but that's fine. I smiled at her and walked over to her. I checked my scroll as I walked up to her. 6:48. Curfew is 11 PM, we should have enough time. "You look... beautiful Weiss." She blushed.

"You look rather dashing, too." I stood proud.

"Of course! When do I not?" I joked with her. She slugged me in the arm playfully. We made our way to the airship. The ride should take about 15 minutes to get into Vale.

"Where are we going for dinner, you mentioned something casual?" She asked.

I snickered. "You will see when we get there." She rolled her eyes. The airship was pretty empty to my surprise. This gave us all the room in the world to talk. We chose seats near the front so we could get off quickly. The ride was pleasant. Weiss told me about the team so far, and I told her about my combat life. When we landed, we were the first ones off. We walked in peaceful silence, enjoying each other's company. We came up on a restaurant that had live music playing. Weiss doesn't know this, but I am renowned here. I got us a center-view front row table. They served simple foods, hamburgers, salads, chicken, etc. I chose to just have water when our waiter came, Weiss ordered a Arnold Palmer.

"I like your taste." I said to her. She had something eating away at her.

"How did you get front row seats? This place is impossible to get into, even for me." She asked. I laughed.

"You will see, snow-angel." She blushed. The waiter came back with our drinks, and Weiss ordered. I didn't. She chose a Caesar Salad, casual yet fancy. I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I knew what this meant. I was up soon. The hand is always extended just below the right side of my seat. I tapped it twice to comply. The person pulled their hand away. I stood up. "Well, I need to use the restroom. Wait for me?" I joked. She just laughed.

"Sure, whatever." She answered. I went to the bathrooms, but there was another door in the men's and women's room that leads to the backstage. I entered and pulled out my acoustic guitar. The other woman finished her song, and everyone applauded her. A ballad, great taste. I am a sucker for ballads, but I have my trump card, the crowd favorite.

Rock City Boy.

When went by me, she put her hand to her mouth. "Y-you're _the _Nick Scarlet! Can you sign my guitar?" She asked. I laughed a hearty laugh.

"Sure! I will do signings after." She nodded and ran off squealing.

"And now, everyone, you know who you are here for, the man himself! He has a fine lady with him here tonight who he instructed to never let her in until this night! At table number one, his date, Weiss Schnee!" The spotlight hit her in the face. She hid her face from the direction of the spotlight. She quickly blushed when everyone was 'Woo'-ing in her direction. "And now, your favorite performer here, Nick Scarlet!" The place was going crazy, and I walked out to center stage.

They wouldn't stop. I felt like a celebrity. I waved them off. "Thank you, thank you! And Joe, I could have introduced her, man!" I joked with the announcer. I heard a laugh from the back control room. "So, I dedicate this song, of course, to my lovely heiress here tonight." Everyone went crazy again. "You guys know what it is. Rock City Boy!" They went insane. The band behind me showed up. The drummer started us off. A simple guitar riff started the song. I began to sing. "Now, with nothing but a dirty bag on my back, I'll take to the sky fly across the map. My wings need room for spreading and I'm ready to soar to the place that I have longed and dreamed for." The crowd was ready. "Yeah yeah yeah!" I sung, and they echoed. "The Rock City Boy!" They echoed again, and I repeated this. The song picked up, and I began to play my acoustic. "Oh baby strum strum, I'm breaking down the walls with my guitar! Oh yeah screaming out reaching far. Just music that's all that you need!" I pointed to Weiss. "I dedicate this to you straight from me! We're really not so different you and me, we'll just live and we'll dance and we'll sing! There's no place that I'd rather be. Chasing to be free, my perfect dream!" I played the riff that the electric guitarist performed at the beginning of the song. I began to rap. I wanna believe the singing on beat most recently is like recess for me. Pretty pretty please, no birds and the bees but ecstasy with extra cheese! rhyming rhino sounding like bono all smacked up with a black jack bottle, when I say "ho" you say "hey"

Nani itteru ka wakaranai yo ne?!" I finished. Everyone in the crowd went crazy. I took a bow and held the mic up one more time. "Thank you, everyone! I will be doing a signing after my dinner, please feel free to ask for Weiss' signature as well!" Everyone went ballistic. I went backstage and made it to my table with pats on the back. I finally sat down to see an ecstatic Weiss. "What is it?" I asked.

"Are you kidding? That was amazing! The whole place knew who you were! They went crazy! And they want me to give them an autograph? Sign me up!" I dug in to my food that was at the table. "You really are amazing, Nick." I cocked my head, closed my eyes, smiled, and flashed a peace sign. After we finished, we went outside to a signing table The line was around the block. What we didn't expect was for a certain three people to be in the line. I told security to look for people of that description, and they let us know. I sighed.

"They're here, we gotta bounce." I told Weiss. She let out an "Ugh" and finished her last autograph. We stood up and left as fast as we could. "Hey, I need to go to my old apartment to pick up a few things. Is that alright with you?" She nodded.

"Anything to get us away from them." Weiss responded. I smiled.

"It's about 3 blocks from here, can you manage?" She slugged me in the arm. "Alright, alright!" We walked away.

We approached a large brick building. We entered and went up about 3 flights of stairs. About three doors down, I opened up a door. I flicked on a light to see my apartment just as I left it. I saw a console and a TV in the corner. I thought about fitting that in the dorm room. It should work, just take up a desk space. I shrugged and I grabbed the console and put it in a backpack I grabbed from the restaurant. Weiss quickly questioned me.

"Why are you getting that?" She asked. She pointed to the white and slim console in my hands.

"Oh, this? I have some... team bonding games on here. Yeah! That's it!" She sighed. I called up my friend, Randall. "Hey Randall, the apartment's yours if you help me take the TV out of here." I told him when he picked up.

"Free? Do I have to pay?" He asked. I thought about it for a second.

"For rent? Yes, it's cheaper than your place, and it's closer to work!" I told him.

"Alright, I'll do it." He hung up the phone.

"Take a seat, please. We need to wait for my good friend to get here so we can get the TV back to the dorm." I told Weiss. I sat down at the couch, taking in everything that was left. All the clothes were gone, and just the furniture and kitchen remained. I sighed. Weiss came closer than she normally does. I felt a blush running up my neck. She nuzzled into my body as if it was her bed. "Hey, you alright?" I asked. She looked up at me from where she was.

"Of course, just... long day, I guess." I sighed.

"Whatever, you want me." I laughed. She laughed too. She mumbled something, but I didn't think much of it. About 10 minutes of common banter later, Randall showed up.

I forgot something about him, though. He tends to barge in. "Yo, bitch! I'm here!" He said to me, but he didn't anticipate Weiss to be there. "Oh, sorry, I was talking to Nick, not you." He said to Weiss. She stood up quickly.

"I'm going to the bathroom." She said, and she walked into a closet.

"That's a closet, Weiss!" I said loudly enough so she could hear. She walked out and went into the next door. That was the bathroom. I sighed. "When will you break that habit of barging in?" I asked. He just shrugged. "So, I need the TV up at Beacon. I can't get rusty on smash, evo is in... how long again?" I asked Randall. We both were in the pro-scene for a popular fighting game.

He thought about it. "Ehh... 3 months?" He responded. I sighed.

"Lets just get the TV and get it to Beacon." I said. Weiss came out of the bathroom. "Hey, snow-angel?" I said romantically to Weiss. She blushed and stood up stiff. "Can you hold the food?" I asked her. She nodded, and Randall and I grabbed the TV. We made it to the airship and eventually back to Beacon. I met Ozpin in the halls.

"What is this, Nick?" He asked, pointing to the TV.

"It's exactly what it looks like. Evo is in 3 months, Professor! You really think I only worked in a clothing store and managed to make enough money to even afford an apartment?" I asked him. His eyes grew wide.

"You're competing in Evo?" He asked. I nodded. "Get your practice, you're gonna need it." We continued to lug it to the dorm. When we were there, RBY was there, and Weiss went in first. She looked around, and pointed to my desk. It didn't have shelves like the others, so I we set it down on the desk in the corner wall. I let out a breath.

"Guys, this is my good friend, Randall! He likes puns, and can be a bit... overbearing at times, but he's a great guy." Ruby snickered.

"Sounds like Yang, really." She said. Weiss and Blake nodded in agreement. Yang hopped down, at awe in the TV.

"Where did you get this from? How did you get it past? TV's aren't allowed in dorm rooms!" She asked. I shrugged.

"Well, Ozpin saw us," RBY grew tense, "and I told him I need to practice for EVO. He said I should get my practice in if I am going to compete there." Yang looked at me in awe. "What?"

"You are competing in Evo? What game!" She quickly asked.

"Uhhh, SSBM." I answered. Her face lit up.

"NO WAY!" She yelled. I swear, my eardrums burst. I looked over to Ruby, who was also intrigued. I sighed.

"Yeah, Randall and I will be competing." The girls almost fainted.

"Did you bring the console?" Ruby asked. I looked at her.

"Of course. You guys play?" I asked. They both nodded.

"We are a pretty unstoppable team!" Yang said confidently. Randall and I smiled at each other. We never finished second in a two's game.

Ever.

"How would you two like to play us? We aren't that good really." Randall said. They both nodded. I looked at Randall who had an evil smile on his face. Time to go. I sat down and set up the console. Ruby and Yang seemed to be having a strategy meeting behind us. Blake and Weiss were intrigued about this game. After the console was set up, I plugged in two controllers. Mine and Randall's. I always have a controller in my sax case, just in case of a surprise game. Ruby and Yang reached into their bags, and pulled out two controllers. I got the game to the VS. Mode screen, and we each chose our characters. Yang picked Captain Falcon, not a big surprise, and Ruby picked Marth. I laughed.

"What?" Ruby asked.

"I just haven't seen that combo in a long time." I answered. She shrugged. I picked my character, Captain Falcon. Randall picked Fox. This was an unstoppable combo. I smiled at him devilishly, and he did the same. "You guys pick the first stage." I said. They picked Final Destination. I don't like this stage too much, but I can manage. Weiss and Blake were standing behind us watching the competition. The game started. Yang had spawned in between Randall and I, so we went after her first. Ruby was much more conservative with her play, waiting for Yang to hit someone her way. I instantly grabbed Yang and put her in a down throw. Randall wavedashed into a shine then a jump into a neutral air, putting Yang at 30% already. I hit her with an up air, into a knee, sending her off the stage. She was already at 63%. Ruby decided to approach us both with a neutral air and tried to grab Randall and put him in a chain grab. I was quick to get to her after she grabbed him once, and pushed her off the stage. Randall went for the shine spike and killed her at a very low percentage. This banter went on until it was just Yang left. I had one stock, Randall had two, and Yang had a fresh stock.

"Wombo Combo" I said to Randall. He nodded. Yang was going all over the place in the center of the stage.

Until I got a grab.

Randall quickly set up, and the combo began. From 0%, I threw her to Randall, who then grabbed her, and shined so she would be sent my direction. I grabbed her and did a down throw, sending her to Randall again. He did a neutral air, sending her back to me. I got another grab, and threw her behind me to Randall. He shined into a weak up smash, and I up aired, sending her off the stage. She tried to recover, but I hit her with the knee of justice, sending her off stage, and winning us the game.

Ruby was going crazy, Weiss was confused, and Blake couldn't believe what she just watched.

I jumped up, dropped my controller to the ground and turned to Yang. "WHERE ARE YOU AT? WHERE ARE YOU AT? OH MY GOD! GET YO ASS WHOPPED! OH MY GOD!" I screamed. Everyone was going crazy now. There was a knock at the door, and Blake opened it. A boy with black hair and a pink extension stood there.

"Would you guys mind calming down?" He asked calmly. "We could hear you clearly in our dorm."

Yang ran up to him. "Ren! Nick - his friend - WOMBO COMBO!" She screamed. I couldn't help but laugh. I didn't know this guy, but he seemed like a cool guy. He stood up straight.

"Did you say... wombo combo?" He asked. Yang nodded. "Fox Falcon?" He asked again, and Yang nodded vigorously. He turned to Randall and I. "You pulled it off?" He asked. We both nodded proudly. He got a closer look at me, and noticed who I was. "Wait, what is this guy doing here? Didn't he try to... you know." He asked. I responded.

"I'm the leader of this team. I'm sure you have heard of my feat in the emerald forest." His eyes widened.

"That was _you!?_" I nodded. "Well, don't try to kill people like that again. Jaune still doesn't forgive you for what you have done." Who the hell is Jaune? I don't think I've met him before. Whatever. I just nodded. Randall made his way to the door.

"Well, I do need to work tomorrow, so I am going to go for the night. Nick, we gonna practice tomorrow?" He asked. I thought about it.

"Maybe. I might have plans." He nodded and left. I sighed and sat down. Ren left when Randall left, so I didn't have to worry about them anymore. Yang turned to me.

"I want a rematch." she said.

"Alright, lets go!" We sat back down, and Weiss sat down next to me.

"What plans do you have tomorrow?" She asked. I snickered.

"Something. I have... something big." She sighed. I just laughed. "It's for everyone, I promise."

Yang picked Captain Falcon again, and I picked Marth. I motioned Ruby to sit down and watch. Weiss asked me questions throughout the game, and I answered. Basic questions, how do you win, how do you attack, combos, etc. She seemed interested, I would have to teach her. Blake sat back down and began to read. I had a plan for the next game. I won by a small margin on purpose. I picked my best character, Fox. Yang picked Battlefield, and I intentionally did bad. She trash talked until I reached my last stock. Then, I began to try. Eventually, I brought it back and won, and Yang only landed 3 hits on me from her first stock to her last one. I invited Ruby to sit down and play, too. 2v1, should be interesting. Again, I played fox, and only played semi-serious. I invited Weiss to play, and I beat them all. Yang and Ruby were frustrated, but Weiss was having fun.

"How can you be so good? You're like one of the 6 smash gods!" Yang exclaimed.

Weiss looked at me quizzically. I sighed. "Well, I am one of the 6 smash gods. You have heard of Crilian, right?" They both nodded. I stood up and pointed my thumb to my chest. "That's me." Yang and Ruby wanted autographs, but they know me in person. I think that's fine enough.

"Speaking of autographs," Blake said from her bed. I froze. "Why were people with the same names as you guys signing autographs in front of that restaurant?" I looked at Weiss, and she looked at me in horror. Those three were looking at me intently.

I sighed. "I performed there, and Weiss just so happened to be in the area. She sat down next to me, and they pinned her as my backup singer, so they asked for autographs." Weiss sighed in relief, it sounded believable.

And it worked. Blake nodded, Yang threw her arms up in defeat for some reason, and Ruby nodded as well. I looked around and noticed only four beds. "Where am I supposed to sleep?" I asked. They all looked at each other and shrugged.

"I guess the floor." Blake answered. I sighed. I began to walk toward the bed sheets in the corner of the room with my box of school supplies. I began to make a makeshift bed. Once done, I went back to play more smash. Weiss was standing behind me, interested as I took on bot after bot. I knew she was standing there, but I decided not to say anything.

Until the 7th bot match I played. She was sitting there for 40 minutes, for Christ sake. I motioned for her to sit down and pick up a controller, which she did. She held it as if she never did before. Her arms made a perfect 90° angle at her elbows.

"Have you never held a controller before?" I asked she shook her head. "Alright, be more relaxed, you're way too tense, which will mess with your play." She mimicked how I held my controller, her arms made more of a 30° angle at her elbows and she placed them on the armrests of the chair. "Good, now, lets go over each part of the controller." I explained it all to her, and how to play the game. We began to play. I went easy on her, just so she could learn the game. She picked Jigglypuff, an honorable choice. I told her about the character's moves, and when I told her about the Down-B On Jiggly, she landed it instantly. "Weiss, you know how hard that is to land?" I asked. She shook her head. "Weiss, I can't even land that. Very few people can. You really understand this!" She smiled. We went back to playing. I was playing Zelda, and I had no idea what I was doing. She managed to beat me because I let her win, but if I wanted to be serious, she would have no chance.

"I really like this!" She said when she won. I laughed.

"Yeah, I thought this would be good teambuilding, it's just that SOME of us aren't as INTERESTED in this game." I said loudly enough for Blake to hear me. She glared daggers at me. I returned the gaze, and turned back to the game. Weiss was ready for another game.

"This time, play seriously." She said as she looked into my eyes.

"Really?" I asked. She nodded very slowly. "Alright, I'm not responsible for any of the damage done to your mind, though." I picked Falcon and we started. I quickly disposed of her Jigglypuff, not giving her an inch. She managed to get me to 98%, which was impressive to say the least. She was new, and she understood the game pretty well. It was harder for her to land Rests (Jiggly's down B) because of how fast I was moving. Wavedashing, wavelanding, dash dancing, etc. She kept playing, and eventually took a stock off. Ruby came up to play, and I had Weiss watch my controller for a while. After about 4 wins against Ruby, Weiss took her controller. Weiss was doing extraordinarily well now. She picked up on the wavedash and dash dance. Now she took two stocks off, but she didn't get any more than that for the next 5 games. I grew tired, and everyone else was already sleeping. Weiss wanted to play one more game, so I accepted. I was tired, so she was able to get 3 stocks off me. She sighed in defeat. I put my hand on her shoulder to reassure her. She looked up and smiled. We both went to our beds. Well, Weiss went to hers, I laid on the floor.

"Nick." She said after the lights were out.

"Yeah?"

She didn't say anything for a short time. "I had a lot of fun tonight." I smiled, but she couldn't see that.

"I did too. Lets do this again sometime, yeah?"

"Mmm" She responded. "And one day, I will beat you in smash." I laughed.

"Keep dreaming. Maybe if Yang and Ruby train you enough, you will reach the level they are at." She scoffed.

"I don't need them." That's cocky. She will eat those words. I heard her yawn. "Well, I'm going to catch some sleep. Night Nick."

"Goodnight," I paused, "snow angel." I could tell she had a blush on her face and smiled.

I looked to the ceiling. Today was an interesting day. Who knew it would turn into what it was? Leader, running out, coming back, a _date _with _Weiss_. Then, we played smash. It was an amazing day.

But tomorrow, we have to get work done. The combos will be perfected.

And I need to get ready for the duel when I am fully recovered.


	5. The Duel

**Hey guys, Crilian here! This took me a looong time to make because of Band camp. Expect less uploads (won't be every day), but more good stuff! I had a lot of writers block on this one, but I made it as good as I could. The long awaited Duel has arrived!**

* * *

The Duel

I woke up to be greeted by a chipper Yang. She was standing over me with her hands on her hips, still in her sleepwear. I groaned and attempted to go back to sleep. She stomped on my chest, making my eyeballs basically bulge out of my face. She knocked the wind out of me. Now I was up, and I was _pissed_. I looked at her dead in the eyes with the intent to kill. My black energy radiated off my body. "What the _fuck _do you want." I asked.

She snickered. "Today's the day of the duel!" My eyes widened. Has it really been a week and a half? I needed to practice. I heard some yells in the corner of the room. I looked over to see Weiss, once again, beating Ruby. I smiled. I trained her so well, with the off time I had to do so. She only really played Jigglypuff, but when the others were out, I taught her a new character. Fox. She was amazing at Fox, every technical term she had memorized, she knew every approach, every situation, every punish. She only would bring it out when we played alone. No one had seen it but me. I began to get ready. If I was to show Ozpin I meant business, I needed to practice and get about two hours of rest before the match. I went to the training rooms to get ready.

When I got there, I saw Glynda. She looked at me and walked over to me. "Nick, how long has it been?" She asked. I cleared my throat.

"A week and a half. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to practice for the match I have today." She nodded. I got to work.

Ozpin came in to the training room about three hours later. He saw me using my energy and walked over. "Nick, you might want to get some rest. It's about two hours before the match begins." I nodded, and walked off. "Remember, people will be watching. I don't want you to disappoint me." I kept walking. Eventually I made it back to the room to see Ruby polishing Crescent Rose, Blake Reading, Yang going over Ember Celicia, and Weiss playing smash. Ok, she might play a bit _too _much. I walked just behind her and watched her last match. She was playing against two bots, and she wasn't doing too bad. She was playing Puff, and she landed _every _rest, which was impressive. When she finished, I put my hand on her shoulder. She jumped in her seat.

"You might want to start getting ready soon." I said to her. She nodded and went to get Myrtenaster. When she unsheathed the weapon, she spun the cylinder to make sure it functioned well, and began polishing it. I sat in between them on my 'Bed', and pulled out my weapon and looked for any scratches and cracks in it. I found none, and sheathed it. Ruby was sitting on Weiss' bed now, observing my weapon closely.

"What's it's name?" She asked.

What the fuck kind of question is that. "Uhhh, name?" She nodded.

"We all have names, but you never said anything about yours." I looked down at my weapon. I never thought of a name for it before.

"She doesn't have one, actually." I answered. She gasped. "What? Is that such a crime?" I asked everyone in the room.

"Of course it is! How do you have no emotional connection to your weapon? We all do, even if it is small." She looked to Weiss who just scoffed.

I laughed, "I will think about it." I looked at my sword. I had to develop a strategy to deal with each person, but how should I approach it? I think eliminating Blake first will make things much easier, Bumblebee will be a _huge _problem later on. Yang packs a punch, but I can easily dodge her punches, it's just the pressure she puts on that allows the other three to get free strikes. I will have to use my semblance in this fight. Ruby is fast, but I can't have her hit my sword. I don't have very strong metal on it, it's a katana, for fucks sake. Weiss and I can clash, a Rapier shouldn't break a katana. I need to move fast, and win quickly. Taking out Yang will pull of pressure, then Blake to deal with Check Mate and Ladybug. I think I can leave Weiss until the end. I grabbed my scroll and put a single headphone, the other piece was just hanging off the chord. I got up and walked to the door, only to be stopped by Blake.

"Where do you think you're going?" She asked.

"I'm going to get some air, I need to focus. You all know the combos, and I bet you're prepared for this. If I can think, I have a chance at winning." I answered, and I left.

By the time I was outside, I got a message on my scroll from Weiss. _Are you ok?_ It read.

_Yeah, I just need some time alone for a bit_. I sent. Was I worried about this? I mean, I can't let Ozpin down. I heard footsteps approaching me. I quickly turned and saw Blake standing there. Not even the ninja-cat can sneak up on me. I sighed.

"What are you doing?" I asked. She shrugged.

"I was thinking we could talk." I nodded, and we sat down at a nearby bench.

"So, what do you want to-"

"Do you still want to kill me?" She asked. This was a surprise. My face was somber now.

"Blake, what you did can't ever be forgiven, but I don't think it would be right to kill my teammate." She nodded. She looked like she was going to cry. I sighed. "Blake, don't worry about it. I know you aren't one of them anymore, and I won't kill you today. You will be fine." I smirked. "Except I won't hold back." She smiled and looked at me. Her amber orbs stared deeply into my brown eyes. It was as if she said 'Thank you'. "Anything else?" I asked.

"Actually, what's going on with you and Weiss?" She asked. I bolted upright. Does she know?

"Nothing, really. Why do you ask?" She looked at me.

"Please, it's pretty obvious you guys have something going on."

"What? No, we don't, we're just friends!" I laughed sheepishly. I was back-pedaling from this. "Just good friends, that's all!"

"Mmmhmmm" she hummed. "Alright, I guess I believe you." She said. I sighed. "Also, you might want to finish getting ready. The duel is in 30 minutes." I nodded, and walked with her inside. I went to the training room, which already had people on the second level waiting for the duel. It was only 20 minutes until we started, so I looked for Ozpin around the walls of the main floor. I found him near the locker room doors and he waved me over. As I walked over, I noticed a banner. 'RWBY vs S! Duel at 3 PM' it read.

"Nick, most of the people that will be here today will be fourth years watching you. These people are your senior, and I want you to show them that you can take any of them in a duel." I nodded. He waved me into one of the locker rooms. I went in to the mens locker room and sat down on one of the benches by the lockers. I thought for a long time, and I couldn't lose. It wasn't long until I heard an announcer.

"Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen of Beacon for the duel of the year! This event is team RWBY against their new team leader, Nick Scarlet! The betting is currently on RWBY, and Nick only has a few people supporting him. Can he somehow manage to beat a whole team?" I sighed. I guess it was time to go to the doors. About 5 minutes later, he announced us. "Everybody, team RWBY!" I heard cheers, lots of em. How many people were here? It only fit about 100 people, but it seems like there is more here. "Nick Scarlet leads them, and he just recently taught them some combinations. Can he manage to trump these, Professor Port?" I heard a hearty laugh.

"I don't think so, Oobleck. Team RWBY is very qualified, and they have even taken part in battles with the leaders of the White Fang! My money's on RWBY." Everyone cheered.

"Well, Peter, you might want to save that money, because here he comes!" That's my cue. I walked out of the dark hallway that led to doors which were opened up into the training room. "Nick Scarlet, the one who has taken on 30 White Fang members at once, is in the building!" I walked out. "And there he is!" I looked above me to see that people had been standing, too. The room had about 500 people in it now. Also, the event is live streamed to everyone's scroll. There were bound to be many more viewers for this event. "It's RWBY vs S! Who will win? Who will fall? How will Nick approach this? Well, we will soon find out!" I looked over to them. Yang cracked her knuckles, Blake was neutral, Weiss was serious, and Ruby was smiling. They were all eager to fight me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. There was a countdown above us on a monitor, which was never there before. There was a siren that started the match, and I heard a shot from Ruby's scythe. I instantly opened my eyes and dodged. I was able to hop above her and kick her into the ground, only to be met with a punch from Yang. She wouldn't stop, and that would be her fall. I dodged and dodged, I even got a few kicks in. I pushed off her body to get some distance. Now, I play the waiting game.

I didn't have to wait too long though, because she charged me instantly. I stood with my chest facing parallel to the wall with one foot forward. This allowed me to use my front foot as defense and offense. When she got to me, I jumped. I hit her thigh with my front foot, allowing me to use it as a spring board. I pushed off and threw a back-spinning hook kick to her temple, instantly knocking her out. I heard gasps and cheers. Yang was disposed of, now to deal with Blake. Weiss rushed me with quick and deft strikes, while Ruby provided support from afar with her sniper-scythe. Blake somehow made it behind me, and I had to jump upwards. Blake made the mistake of jumping to follow, so I kicked her to the ground, but she recovered. After I reached the ground again, I went straight for Blake. Her shadows would prove to be a problem.

"Checkmate!" Ruby yelled. Here we go, I figured out how to deal with this. They both showed up in front of me, and my energy began to show. It's normal white form made a wall, forcing them to go around. Lucky for me, I can walk through it, take that energy, and use it against them. I shot off energy at Weiss so she would be knocked back, allowing me to use the rest to go for Blake. After each one of Blake's strikes, I fired off energy, which she skillfully dodged. Eventually, Weiss and Ruby were around me, so I hit all 3 of them with a knock back, allowing me to reposition. I haven't used my sword yet. I kept dodging each strike after strike from Blake's weapons. Eventually, I landed a palm to her stomach, which was infused with energy, sending her spiraling in the wall. A crater was produced from her body hitting the wall, and she was clearly knocked out. I turned around at the sound of a gunshot, and Ruby was right in front of me.

Ruby and Weiss had great synergy, and they kept up the pressure, forcing me on the defensive. After each strike from Weiss, Ruby would attack, and vice versa. I was able to draw distance, and Ruby closed that quickly, which is what I hoped she would do. When she reached me, I dropped and swept her legs. I quickly got up and thew a Naraban kick to her stomach, forcing the wind out of her and sending her near the wall. She managed to recover, so I threw a running-jump side-kick to her celiac plexus, knocking her out. I turned and Weiss had approached me.

I knew her weapon wasn't as strong as mine, so I was able to clash with her. This was the first time I drew my sword, and energy flew off the weapon at each clash. We were moving so fast, with my blade moving milliseconds faster than hers, but she hadn't used any glyphs yet. We knocked each other back, and she readied her sword. This time, she spun twice, the first time as if she was going to charge, the second time she was prepared to parry, and when she came around to face me, she stuck her sword in the ground. A trail of ice was hurdling towards me, and I couldn't get away. It trapped my legs, and I was only able to control my upper body. She slowly walked up and laughed.

"You never had a _chance_ against me, you're too weak!" She said. That is where I draw the fucking line. "I mean, seriously, everyone else is _sooooo_ bad, not even close to my level." Black energy was coming off my body. It sparked her, forcing her backwards, and I managed to break free. I walked up to her, continuously shocking her. It was fun to see her body twitch. She was crying now, and I was alright with that. I shocked her enough to temporarily paralyze her. I walked right up to her and pinned her against the wall with my blades at her throat.

"You think I'm weak? Who just lost, when their opponent had to deal with three other people? And also, don't call everyone else _weak_. If anyone, your the weak link." I dropped her to the ground and just stood there. The black energy was still there, and I wanted to have a little fun while she was still awake. I electrocuted the ground around her, just inches from her body so she would feel the heat of the energy and how much danger she was in. Eventually, I heard a bell, and Ozpin rushed up to me. I looked at Weiss, who was crying in fear. What have I done? I fell to my knees, and threw my head back to look up at the ceiling. I had won, but did I go too far? I let my anger get a hold of me. The girl I took on a date and spent more time with than anyone else, I almost killed her. I traumatized her for sure. How can she look at me now? This isn't what I wanted, I don't think she will ever be able to look at me again. I walked over to her and made eye contact. She backed away. "Weiss, are you alright? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that." Her back came in contact with the wall. "Weiss, stop, please. I'm not going to hurt you" I pleaded. She shook her head.

"You're a monster." She whispered. I was taken aback by this, but I decided to just leave her alone. I walked out of the locker rooms and went back to the dorm.

Everyone looked at me differently. I heard whispers from people about me. Calling me a monster, evil, inhuman, murderer, all those things. I brushed them off to the best of my ability as I walked to the dorm room. When I opened it up, no one was there, just like it should be. I walked over to the TV and turned on both the console and the TV itself. I sat down and played smash. I played match after match after match. I noticed that I had played about 4 hours, and nobody walked in to the dorm room. Where were they? Leaving the TV on, I got up and walked out. I made my way to the infirmary, and I was instantly directed to the rest of the team. They had bandages on where they were bleeding, but nothing too serious, except for Weiss. She was in one of the rooms, with everyone standing in there. I decided to watch. It looks like they were having a conversation of some sort, until Weiss saw me in the window. Her eyes filled with fear, and everyone turned. I remained as neutral as I could, and just looked at Weiss. Eventually, I walked off. Something must have been wrong with me, because Yang followed me all the way to the front gates. I was at the doors before I felt her hand on my shoulder, and I just brushed it off. I continued to walk outside. I heard footsteps behind me, which meant she was still following. I stopped.

"What do you want, Yang." I asked coldly. The footsteps stopped.

"Nick, do you know why she looks at you like that?" She asked. Her voice was filled with emotion. I shook my head. "Weiss isn't scared of you, she's scared of what you will say to her." I laughed. "Why is that funny?"

I turned to face her, and she had tears forming in her eyes. I had to give her a serious answer. "She never said anything wrong, that's the thing. I truly am a monster when I'm angry." She shook her head.

"She taunted you, she did that on purpose. Weiss didn't expect you to do what you did. She wanted to see what you could _really _do." I nodded and walked past her. I heard her follow me.

"You don't have to come with me, you know." I told her. She jogged up beside me and turned around to walk backwards.

"I just want to see what your girlfriend will say to you." I stopped and put my palm to my face.

"She's not my girlfriend, Yang." I said. She laughed. "What?"

"That's not what she said!" She said playfully. I sighed and kept walking. Eventually I walked into the infirmary room where Weiss was. They didn't seem to hear me, as they were still wrapped up in conversation. I stood at the door after it was closed. I let them talk until there was a lull in their conversation. I cleared my throat. Blake and Ruby quickly turned, and Weiss sat up quickly. I looked at Blake and nodded in silent agreement for them to leave. She grabbed Ruby by her hood and left. I stood by Weiss, remaining neutral. I looked at all the monitors in the room, and she seemed to be fine.

"Weiss, what I did was wrong, I didn't mean to hospitalize you." I said quietly. She shook her head. "I know you taunted me on purpose, and I couldn't control my emotions. I let my anger get a hold of me, I'm sorry."

"Nick, you didn't hurt me," She began, but I cut her off.

"Then why are you in the infirmary?" I asked.

"Everyone was, I just have to stay longer to make sure the energy gets out of my system." This puzzled me.

"It's inside of you?" She nodded. "I never even knew that was possible." She shrugged.

"Eh, I don't really feel anything, but they said that it can have some effects on my movements." I nodded.

There was a silence for a while, until I broke it. "So, you told them about our date." This caught her off guard, and she bolted upright.

"Well, yeah. They asked about what was going on between us, and I answered." I sighed. "What's the problem with that?" She asked.

"Yang." I said. She shuddered.

"Yeah, I never really thought about that."

"It's fine, I can beat her in a fight any day." Weiss laughed.

"You sure can." There was another silence in the room. I knew we were being watched from the outside, but I didn't know by who. I assumed Ruby and Yang, Blake would have the common decency to leave.

"You said that I was your boyfriend?" I asked. She blushed and hid her face as she spoke.

"Well, yeah. That's what we are now, right? Boyfriend girlfriend?" She asked.

I knelt down by her bed. "Only if you want it to be." She smiled and nodded. The door opened and I saw a familiar face that I couldn't remember. I dismissed it, but Weiss didn't.

"Since when do you think it's alright to see me?" She asked.

"Weiss, that's pretty hostile, don't you think you could be easy on the guy?" I asked. She turned to me and looked me dead in the eyes.

"You don't remember the guy you stood up to in the hospital that day?" She asked. I thought for a minute, and then I remembered. Mr. Schnee. I haven't learned his name yet, but one day, I will. She noticed my fists and the fire in my eyes. "Yeah, that's him." she pointed at Mr. Schnee. I turned to him and grew somber.

"Leave, right now. I can't promise your safety, and any action I take will not make a difference to my current life. You have been warned." Black energy sparked off my body, and Weiss put a hand on my shoulder. I calmed down enough to not hurt him, but I still didn't like him. I sat on her bed, right beside her. He began to walk forward and I stopped him. "You think you have the fucking right to approach your daughter? Sure, she's 17, but she doesn't need your encouragement or any of that shit. She is a more qualified person to run a company than you are. As a parent, you should obviously know that the child always comes first, and you shut her out." I spat on his shoe, "You disgust me." I finished.

"I knew you would be the one to date my daughter. I couldn't think of anyone more capable." He said. I stood up and punched him in the gut with 'lightning' speed. Get it? Because my energy looks like... yeah you get it.

"Again, your daughter is _right in front of you _in a fucking _hospital bed_. She obviously got hurt, and all you care about is who you date?" He recovered and threw a hook to my temple, but I pushed it away. He staggered backwards. "You're weak, your own daughter could take you in a fight." He scoffed and left.

"I'm not dealing with this shit again, we're leaving." Someone else was outside. She walked past him, and a girl about the age of 13-14 walked in. She had white hair in a style that resembled Ruby's, but it lacked the highlights. She wore a blue and white jacket and shirt. She had the Schnee family crest design on the back of the jacket, and a Huntress Weekly shirt on. I assumed she was related to Weiss somehow, but I didn't know. I put on a neutral expression, but I couldn't tower over her. I sat in the corner and watched.

"Winter!" Weiss exclaimed, "Where have you been? I haven't seen you in two years!"

"Well, I went to Signal! Mom and Dad let me board since you were going to attend Beacon!" This common banter went on for a while. "Who is that in the corner there?" She asked as she pointed to me.

"Well, that's Nick, my boyfriend and team leader." I stood up and walked over to her. I extended my hand for her to shake it, but she backed up.

"Is he the one you wrote me about? The murderer? The monster?" She asked. My expression changed from one of happiness to one of sadness and realization. I walked back to the corner and sat down.

"Winter!" Weiss snapped.

"What? I didn't do anything wrong, did I?" She asked. I still sat in my corner spectating the whole event. Weiss turned to face me.

"Nick, it's alright. She didn't mean anything by it, really." I sat there, not even responding to anything they said. She's right, I am a monster, a murderer, everything that she said is true. I can't remember the faces of the people I have killed, even my first kills, their faces escape my memory. "Winter! Look what you've done!" Weiss scolded her sister.

I waved it off. I put on a fake smile. "It's fine, really. I get it a lot, so I should get used to it. Yes, I am currently dating your older sister, and I am also her team leader."

"Why is she in here?" Winter asked.

"Well, the headmaster set me up against my whole team, and everyone in the school was there to watch. And well, I kind of took it a bit too seriously. I landed everyone in the infirmary, but since your sister taunted me, I landed her in here for a bit longer. It's nothing too serious, really. The nurse said she should be released in about 20 minutes." Winter nodded. I looked at the window to see Mr. Schnee still standing there, and I decided to let him be for now. "Winter?"

"Hmm?" she hummed.

"Do you love your father? Truly, do you think he is a good person?" She thought about this for a minute.

"When Weiss left, he became much closer to the family. He was much more lenient, he allowed me to go to Signal, but I am taking a day off to see Weiss. To answer your question, I haven't forgiven him for everything he did to-" She quickly stopped talking. Weiss looked to Winter with a look of 'Seriously!?' on her face. "Ahhh, nevermind. He really opened up after we both left, and he always checked in with me." I nodded. Weiss looked confused, as if she couldn't believe what she just heard from her sister. "So, Nick," I turned to her, "What's your weapon and semblance?" She asked quickly. I smiled, she seemed to have a similar personality to Ruby's.

I unsheathed my weapon, and let energy course through it. Her jaw dropped as she inspected the blades close up. I sheathed it and the energy dissipated into the sheath. Weiss was smiling at me, she wanted me to explain it all. I closed my eyes and let out a breath from my nose.

"Basically, I use this energy to give me more power or to incapacitate someone. Like in the duel today, I only really used my energy for hand to hand, the metal in my sword isn't made for clashing. It's made for quick and lethal strikes. I had to learn a lot of hand to hand combat, and I use my energy to give it more of a 'punch.'" I looked over to Weiss, who just rolled her eyes. Yang would be proud. "For instance, if I were to throw a side kick, the energy would focus on to my heel, giving the kick two phases. The first is the normal phase, but the second happens just under the speed of sound. The energy collides with them after the kick and sends them further back, as if I kicked them twice." Winter nodded.

Ruby burst through the door. "I heard we were talking about weapons?" She asked. I nodded.

"Just about mine, really. What do you have, Winter?"

"Well, at Signal-"

Ruby interrupted her. "You attend Signal!?" She asked. Winter nodded. "I used to go there!" They went off into their own conversation, and the nurse walked past them.

"Weiss, you are free to go after this last check." She nodded and the nurse walked over to her. She placed her hands above her stomach area and a circular green wave appeared. After a short time, it went away, and the nurse nodded. Weiss got up and went to the bathroom on the side to change. I stood and thought about something. We haven't practiced in ages! How can we hold together a band if we aren't going to practice? I called Yang and Blake in, and let Ruby finish her conversation. After Weiss walked out, I tapped Ruby on her shoulder and motioned for her to come over to us. After everyone was there, I spoke.

"It was a great duel guys, I had a lot of fun. We have also overlooked one thing..." Blake leaned in closer. I sighed. "Band practice." Eyebrows went up. Ruby shook her head. "We need to practice if we ever want to go anywhere with this! I haven't wrote a song in about a week. Does anyone have anything." They all four nodded, but Ruby was pretty damn violent with hers. "You got something good?" Ruby smiled.

"Red like Roses." I heard a groan from Yang. "What? It's awesome! I remade it, so it isn't all Spanish guitar!"

"What's the problem, Yang?" I asked.

"Ruby has been rewriting this song since she was 12. Almost four years now! I don't think I can stand another listen."

"Hey, this time it could be different. Lets give her a chance. Anyone else?"

Now Blake spoke up. "Well, I have one I wrote. I called it 'From Shadows'." I nodded.

Yang was the next to speak now. "I made a song about 2 months ago called 'I Burn'." She stopped for a second. "It's more of an alternative rock and rap mix." I smiled.

"Sounds great. Weiss?" I asked.

I heard footsteps behind me and turned. Winter was standing there. "You know, she has already performed her song." I raised an eyebrow.

"Winter, let's not talk about that." Weiss told her sister.

"Why not? It was amazing!" Weiss shook her head. I heard the door open, and I saw her mother and father there.

"You know, you could always remix it." Her father said.

"You know, I don't need your fucking input." I responded quickly. "This is a matter in the team. I appreciate the idea Winter." I looked up to Mr. Schnee. "As for you, I don't give shit about whatever you have to say. You aren't a part of this team, and you don't deserve to even be here." He snapped his fingers, and what appeared to be guards dropped down from the ceiling and ran through the doors to surround me. I smirked.

"What's so funny?" He asked. "I can have you dealt with on the spot."

I turned to my team and Winter. "Leave quickly." I told them, and they did. There were 8 of them, and they didn't seem too big. All 8 of them charged me at once, and I just let out a pulse of energy to push them all back and stun them. "I'll have Ozpin know you physically assaulted one of his students. This won't be good for your company, you know." I had him in a corner. He couldn't do anything. "And you can't begin to speak for the 'Safety of your precious children' because they aren't precious to you. Just admit it." The guards finally got back up. "You want some more?" I taunted. They all backed away. I began to walk out the door. Before I left, I said, "Don't think this is the last you will see of me" to Mr. Schnee.

Nobody was outside, so I walked into the waiting room. RWBY was there, but Winter was not. I assumed she left and moved on. I motioned for them to follow me, which they did. I started to think about what just happened.

"Nick, you're really quiet. Are you alright?" Blake asked. She never really worried about me before. I shook my head.

"No. Sorry." We kept walking.

"Where exactly are we going?" Ruby asked. To be honest, I had no clue. I stopped to turn around to Ruby.

"I don't know. I guess I had an idea of something and then I forgot."

Weiss spoke up. "Didn't you say we were going to have band practice?"

I snapped my fingers. "Right, let's go to the dorm to go over the songs." With that, we left for the dorms.

I couldn't help but feel like they were watching my every move. It's as if they didn't take their eyes off me until we reached the dorm. When they all sat in their beds, Weiss patted down a spot for me on hers. I took it, only to be greeted by Yang's teasing.

"Ohhhh, you guys are soo~oo cuuu~ute!" She said with a high pitched voice, as if she was talking to a cat. I looked up at her.

"Remember who kicked your ass today?" She stopped immediately. "Good. Now, let's get down to business."

"Actually, we need to change our course of action." Weiss said.

"Why? What's bothering you guys?" I asked.

"It's more like... what's bothering you, Nick." Ruby answered. Her head hanging off the edge of her bed so I could look up at her. I looked around. It appeared that everyone else thought the same.

"Guys, really, I'm fine!" I said and laughed sheepishly. They weren't buying it. Weiss put her hand on my shoulder. "Alright. I'll tell you. Everything about me, in general, is bothering me. Really, look at my track record. One, guy saves four girls and tries to kill one through torture, two, that guy ripped peoples guts out and bathed in them. Three, said guy gets into beacon and has his team hate him. Four, he goes to initiation and almost gets his partner _killed_. Five, duels the team, almost killing one. Six, threatening the head of the Schnee Dust company." Everyone was still listening intently. "I mean, seriously, I'm not the best person around. I can't even remember the faces of those I killed in my first anti-white fang aggression." Blake stood up with horror struck on her face. "I know, it's horrible, I killed two people, but I don't remember them. There was a girl about my age with cat ears and black..." the realization struck. She watched me kill them, and I spared her.

She drew her sword. I quickly stood up and drew mine in defense. "Blake, wait! Don't do this, it might not even be him!" Yang screamed.

"Blake, what's going on? Why are you so hostile to me?" I asked. Her amber eyes had a flame to them now. She quickly appeared behind me.

"You killed my parents. You don't remember what I said that day?" She asked. I shook my head. Her sword was at my throat, much like that day. "I said I will give you the same feeling that I got that day. That's why you spared me. Guess what. I did." My eyes filled with horror. "And now, guess what? We are back to where we started." I laughed.

I couldn't help but laugh. This was all too funny. "Honestly, Blake, do you think you can take me down in your condition? Even in perfect condition, you all didn't stand a chance. I advise you to drop your sword, or the energy in my hand," I showed her a ball of energy, which had the same energy emitting off of the ball, "will go straight through your chest. I will not hesitate." She backed off. I turned to her. "Look, Blake. We both have had our conflicts, but we need to move past those. I know, what we have both done can't be reversed, but to keep this team working, we need to understand that these things won't happen again, alright?" She nodded. "Good." We both sat down. This will be brought up later, I can tell. For now, I need to let it slide. "Anything else?" I asked.

Yang perked up. "Actually, I wanted to ask about you two." She pointed back and forth between us. "Didn't you guys hate each other at one point?"

"Well, it all started with a hospital bed and her parents. Apparently, I became her boyfriend right there! It was funny, really, she went from hating me, to me saving her, and now we are here!" Weiss was blushing now.

Ruby spoke up. "Wait, so you guys _did _go on a date that night!"

This time, Weiss spoke. "Yes, we did. We spaced out our times of leave so you wouldn't catch it."

"Oh, we got it." Blake said. "Now you just confirmed our interests. We knew you went into that restaurant because of the signing. A better question now is why was there a signing?" She asked.

Weiss and I looked at each other and we laughed. "What's so funny? We couldn't follow you in because we haven't ever been able to get in!" Yang said.

I took some breaths to calm down. "I'm renowned there. Anyone I take gets in. I perform almost every time I go there, and the crowd loves it. Even Weiss ate it up, it was amazing!"

She nodded. "I did love the signing and everyone asking for my autograph. I never did something like that before because I always pushed them away, but this time it was different. I felt like they actually cared that I was there, in person. It just felt amazing, you know?" They all nodded.

"Alright, that's that. Now what?" I asked.

"Well, practice!" Ruby responded.

"Right, alright guys, let's go!" I said as I stood up. Ruby was already outside holding the door as we went down to the instrumental room for practice.


End file.
